COVID–19 Commuter Benefits Distribution Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3959 To allow for one-time distributions from certain transportation fringe benefit accounts. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 9, 2023 Mr. D’ESPOSITO (for himself, Mr. GARBARINO, and Mr. LALOTA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To allow for one-time distributions from certain transportation fringe benefit accounts. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘COVID–19 Commuter 4 Benefits Distribution Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3959.IH H3959 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3959 IH SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN DISTRIBUTIONS FROM 1 TRANSPORTATION FRINGE BENEFIT AC- 2 COUNTS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any qualified pay- 4 ment from a specified transportation fringe benefit ac- 5 count— 6 (1) such qualified payment shall be includible in 7 the gross income of the employee for the taxable 8 year in which such qualified payment is made, and 9 (2) the determination of whether any other pay- 10 ment from such account is a qualified transportation 11 fringe for purposes of section 132 of the Internal 12 Revenue Code of 1986 shall be determined without 13 regard to such qualified payment. 14 (b) QUALIFIED PAYMENT.—For purposes of this sec- 15 tion, the term ‘‘qualified payment’’ means a one-time pay- 16 ment made during the 6-month period beginning on the 17 date of the enactment of this Act from a specified trans- 18 portation fringe benefit account to the employee for whose 19 benefit such account is maintained but only to the extent 20 that such payment does not exceed the lesser of— 21 (1) the highest balance of such account during 22 the period beginning on March 13, 2020, and ending 23 on the date of the enactment of this Act, or 24 (2) the balance of such account on the date of 25 such one-time payment. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3959.IH H3959 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3959 IH (c) SPECIFIED TRANSPORTATION FRINGE BENEFIT 1 ACCOUNT.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘speci- 2 fied transportation fringe benefit account’’ means, with re- 3 spect to any employee, amounts set aside by such employ- 4 ee’s employer under a compensation reduction agreement 5 which— 6 (1) provides for payments to such employee of 7 amounts which are excludible under section 132 of 8 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as a qualified 9 transportation fringe (determined after the applica- 10 tion of subsection (a)), and 11 (2) provides that unused amounts at the end of 12 a month may be carried forward to the succeeding 13 month (subject to such requirements or limitations 14 as such agreement, the Secretary of the Treasury, or 15 the Secretary’s delegate, may provide). 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3959.IH H3959 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS