Sec. 301. Increase in investment credit *  *  *

(d) Plan requirements for taxpayers electing additional credit. In order to meet the requirements of this subsection—

(1) Except as expressly provided in subsections (e) and (f), a corporation (hereinafter in this subsection referred to as the “employer”) must establish an employee stock ownership plan (described in paragraph (2)) which is funded by transfers of employer securities in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (6) and which meets all other requirements of this subsection.

(2) The plan referred to in paragraph (1) must be a defined contribution plan established in writing which—

(A) Is a stock bonus plan, a stock bonus and a money purchase pension plan, or a profit-sharing plan,

(B) Is designed to invest primarily in employer securities, and

(C) Meets such other requirements (similar to requirements applicable to employee stock ownership plans as defined in section 4975(e)(7) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954) as the Secretary of the Treasury or his delegate may prescribe.

(3) The plan must provide for the allocation of all employer securities transferred to it or purchased by it (because of the requirements of section 46(a)(2)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954) to the account of each participant (who was a participant at any time during the plan year, whether or not he is a participant at the close of the plan year) as of the close of each year in an amount which bears substantially the same proportion to the amount of all such securities allocated to all participants in the plan for that plan year as the amount of compensation paid to such participant (disregarding any compensation in excess of the first $100,000 per year) bears to the compensation paid to all such participants during that year (disregarding any compensation in excess of the first $100,000 with respect to any participant). Notwithstanding the first sentence of this paragraph, the allocation to participants' accounts may be extended over whatever period may be necessary to comply with the requirements of section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. For purposes of this paragraph, the amount of compensation paid to a participant for a year is the amount of such participant's compensation within the meaning of section 415(c)(3) of such Code for such year.

(4) The plan must provide that each participant has a nonforfeitable right to any stock allocated to his account under paragraph (3), and that no stock allocated to a participant's account may be distributed from that account before the end of the eighty-fourth month beginning after the month in which the stock is allocated to the account except in the case of separation from the service, death, or disability.

(5) The plan must provide that each participant is entitled to direct the plan as to the manner in which any employer securities allocated to the account of the participant are to be voted.

(6) On making a claim for credit, adjustment, or refund under section 38 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, the employer states in such claim that it agrees, as a condition of receiving any such credit, adjustment, or refund—

(A) In the case of a taxable year beginning before January 1, 1977, to transfer employer securities forthwith to the plan having an aggregate value at the time of the claim of 1 percent of the amount of the qualified investment (as determined under section 46 (c) and (d) of such Code) of the taxpayer for the taxable year, and

(B) In the case of a taxable year beginning after December 31, 1976—

(i) To transfer employer securities to the plan having an aggregate value at the time of the claim of 1 percent of the amount of the qualified investment (as determined under section 46 (c) and (d) of such Code) of the employer for the taxable year,

(ii) Except as provided in clause (iii), to effect the transfer not later than 30 days after the time (including extensions) for filing its income tax return for a taxable year, and

(iii) In the case of an employer whose credit (as determined under section 46(a)(2)(B) of such Code) for a taxable year beginning after December 31, 1976, exceeds the limitations of paragraph (3) of section 46(a) of such Code—

(I) To effect that portion of the transfer allocable to investment credit carrybacks of such excess credit at the time required under clause (ii) for the unused credit year (within the meaning of section 46(b) of such Code), and

(II) To effect that portion of the transfer allocable to investment credit carryovers of such excess credit at the time required under clause (ii) for the taxable year to which such portion is carried over.

For purposes of meeting the requirements of this paragraph, a transfer of cash shall be treated as a transfer of employer securities if the cash is, under the plan, used to purchase employer securities.

(7) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, if the plan does not meet the requirements of section 401 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954—

(A) Stock transferred under paragraph (6) or subsection (e)(3) and allocated to the account of any participant under paragraph (3) and dividends thereon shall not be considered income of the participant or his beneficiary under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 until actually distributed or made available to the participant or his beneficiary and, at such time, shall be taxable under section 72 of such Code (treating the participant or his beneficiary as having a basis of zero in the contract),

(B) No amount shall be allocated to any participant in excess of the amount which might be allocated if the plan met the requirements of section 401 of such Code, and

(C) The plan must meet the requirements of sections 410 and 415 of such Code.

(8)

(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B)(iii), if the amount of the credit determined under section 46(a)(2)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 is recaptured or redetermined in accordance with the provisions of such Code, the amounts transferred to the plan under this subsection and subsection (e) and allocated under the plan shall remain in the plan or in participant accounts, as the case may be, and continue to be allocated in accordance with the plan.

(B) If the amount of the credit determined under section 46(a)(2)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 is recaptured in accordance with the provisions of such Code—

(i) The employer may reduce the amount required to be transferred to the plan under paragraph (6) of this subsection, or under paragraph (3) of subsection (e), for the current taxable year or any succeeding taxable years by the portion of the amount so recaptured which is attributable to the contribution to such plan,

(ii) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (12), the employer may deduct such portion, subject to the limitations of section 404 of such Code (relating to deductions for contributions to an employees' trust or plan), or

(iii) If the requirements of subsection (f)(1) are met, the employer may withdraw from the plan an amount not in excess of such portion.

(C) If the amount of the credit claimed by an employer for a prior taxable year under section 38 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 is reduced because of a redetermination which becomes final during the taxable year, and the employer transferred amounts to a plan which were taken into account for purposes of this subsection for that prior taxable year, then—

(i) The employer may reduce the amount it is required to transfer to the plan under paragraph (6) of this subsection, or under paragraph (3) of subsection, (e), for the taxable year or any succeeding taxable year by the portion of the amount of such reduction in the credit or increase in tax which is attributable to the contribution to such plan, or

(ii) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (12), the employer may deduct such portion subject to the limitations of section 404 of such Code.

(9) For purposes of this subsection, the term—

(A) “Employer securities” means common stock issued by the employer or a corporation which is a member of a controlled group of corporations which includes the employer (within the meaning of section 1563 (a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, determined without regard to section 1563 (a)(4) and (e)(3)(C) of such Code) with voting power and dividend rights no less favorable than the voting power and dividend rights of other common stock issued by the employer or such controlling corporation, or securities issued by the employer or such controlling corporation, convertible into such stock, and

(B) “Value” means the average of closing prices of the employer's securities, as reported by a national exchange on which securities are listed, for the 20 consecutive trading days immediately preceding the date of transfer or allocation of such securities or, in the case of securities not listed on a national exchange, the fair market value as determined in good faith and in accordance with regulations issued by the Secretary of the Treasury or his delegate.

(10) The Secretary of the Treasury or his delegate shall prescribe such regulations and require such reports as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this subsection and subsections (e) and (f).

(11) If the employer fails to meet any requirement imposed under this subsection or subsection (e) or (f) or under any obligation undertaken to comply with the requirement of this subsection or subsection (e) or (f), he is liable to the United States for a civil penalty of an amount equal to the amount involved in such failure. The preceding sentence shall not apply if the taxpayer corrects such failure (as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury or his delegate) within 90 days after notice thereof. For purposes of this paragraph, the term “amount involved” means an amount determined by the Secretary or his delegate, but not in excess of 1 percent of the qualified investment of the taxpayer for the taxable year under section 46(a)(2)(B) and not less than the product of one-half of one percent of such amount multiplied by the number of months (or parts thereof) during which such failure continues. The amount of such penalty may be collected by the Secretary of the Treasury in the same manner in which a deficiency in the payment of Federal income tax may be collected.

(12) Notwithstanding any provision of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 to the contrary, no deductions shall be allowed under section 162, 212, or 404 of such Code for amounts transferred to an employee stock ownership plan and taken into account under this subsection.

(13)

(A) As reimbursement for the expense of establishing the plan, the employer may withhold from amounts due the plan for the taxable year for which the plan is established, or the plan may pay, so much of the amounts paid or incurred in connection with the establishment of the plan as does not exceed the sum of 10 percent of the first $100,000 that the employer is required to transfer to the plan for that taxable year under paragraph (6) (including any amounts transferred under subsection (e)(3)) and 5 percent of any amount in excess of the first $100,000 of such amount.

(B) As reimbursement for the expense of administering the plan, the employer may withhold from amounts due the plan, or the plan may pay, so much of the amounts paid or incurred during the taxable year as expenses of administering the plan as does not exceed the smaller of—

(i) The sum of 10 percent of the first $100,000 and 5 percent of any amount in excess of $100,000 of the income from dividends paid to the plan with respect to stock of the employer during the plan year ending with or within the employer's taxable year, or

(ii) $100,000.

(14) The return of a contribution made by an employer to an employee stock ownership plan designed to satisfy the requirements of this subsection or subsection (e) (or a provision for such a return) does not fail to satisfy the requirements of this subsection, subsection (e), section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, or section 403(c)(1) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 if—

(A) The contribution is conditioned under the plan upon determination by the Secretary of the Treasury that such plan meets the applicable requirements of this subsection, subsection (e), or section 401(a) of such Code.

(B) The application for such a determination is filed with the Secretary not later than 90 days after the date on which the credit under section 38 is allowed, and

(C) The contribution is returned within one year after the date on which the Secretary issues notice to the employer that such plan does not satisfy the requirements of this subsection, subsection (e), or section 401(a) of such Code.

(e) Plan requirements for taxpayers electing additional one-half percent credit—(1) General rule. For purposes of clause (ii) of section 46(a)(2)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, the amount determined under this subsection for a taxable year is an amount equal to the sum of the matching employee contributions for the taxable year which meet the requirements of this subsection.

(2) Election; basic plan requirements. No amount shall be determined under this subsection for the taxable year unless the corporation elects to have this subsection apply for that year. A corporation may not elect to have the provisions of this subsection apply for a taxable year unless the corporation meets the requirements of subsection (d) and the requirements of this subsection.

(3) Employer contribution. On making a claim for credit, adjustment, or refund under section 38 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, the employer shall state in such claim that the employer agrees, as a condition of receiving any such credit, adjustment, or refund attributable to the provisions of section 46(a)(2)(B)(ii) of such Code, to transfer at the time described in subsection (d)(6)(B) employer securities (as defined in subsection (d)(9)(A)) to the plan having an aggregate value at the time of the transfer of not more than one-half of one percent of the amount of the qualified investment (as determined under subsections (c) and (d) of section 46 of such Code) of the taxpayer for the taxable year. For purposes of meeting the requirements of this paragraph, a transfer of cash shall be treated as a transfer of employer securities if the cash is, under the plan, used to purchase employer securities.

(4) Requirements relating to matching employee contributions.

(A) An amount contributed by an employee under a plan described in subsection (d) for the taxable year may not be treated as a matching employee contribution for that taxable year under this subsection unless—

(i) Each employee who participates in the plan described in subsection (d) is entitled to make such a contribution,

(ii) The contribution is designated by the employee as a contribution intended to be used for matching employer amounts transferred under paragraph (3) to a plan which meets the requirements of this subsection, and

(iii) The contribution is in the form of an amount paid in cash to the employer or plan administrator not later than 24 months after the close of the taxable year in which the portion of the credit allowed by section 38 of such Code (and determined under clause (ii) of section 46 (a)(2)(B) of such Code which the contribution is to match) is allowed, and is invested forthwith in employer securities (as defined in subsection (d)(9)(A)).

(B) The sum of the amounts of matching employee contributions taken into account for purposes of this subsection for any taxable year may not exceed the value (at the time of transfer) of the employer securities transferred to the plan in accordance with the requirements of paragraph (3) for the year for which the employee contributions are designated as matching contributions.

(C) The employer may not make participation in the plan a condition of employment and the plan may not require matching employee contributions as a condition of participation in the plan.

(D) Employee contributions under the plan must meet the requirements of section 401(a)(4) of such Code (relating to contributions).

(5) A plan must provide for allocation of all employer securities transferred to it or purchased by it under this subsection to the account of each participant (who was a participant at any time during the plan year, whether or not he is a participant at the close of the plan year) as of the close of the plan year in an amount equal to his matching employee contributions for the year. Matching employee contributions and amounts so allocated shall be deemed to be allocated under subsection (d)(3).

(f) Recapture—(1) General rule. Amounts transferred to a plan under subsection (d)(6) or (e)(3) may be withdrawn from the plan by the employer if the plan provides that while subject to recapture—

(A) Amounts so transferred with respect to a taxable year are segregated from other plan assets, and

(B) Separate accounts are maintained for participants on whose behalf amounts so transferred have been allocated for a taxable year.

(2) Coordination with other law. Notwithstanding any other law or rule of law, an amount withdrawn by the employer will neither fail to be considered to be nonforfeitable nor fail to be for the exclusive benefit of participants or their beneficiaries merely because of the withdrawal from the plan of—

(A) Amounts described in paragraph (1), or

(B) Employer amounts transferred under subsection (e)(3) to the plan which are not matched by matching employee contributions or which are in excess of the limitations of section 415 of such Code,

nor will the withdrawal of any such amount be considered to violate the provisions of section 403(c)(1) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.

[Sec. 301(d) of the Tax Reduction Act of 1975 (89 Stat. 38) as amended by sec. 802(b)(7) and sec. 803 (c) and (e) of the Tax Reform Act of 1976 (90 Stat. 1520); sec. 301 (e) and (f) of the Tax Reduction Act of 1975 as added by sec. 803(d) of the Tax Reform Act of 1976]