PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

A coal operator that fails to pay a required premium for a retired miner's health benefits owes a penalty of $100 per day, per beneficiary, until the premium is paid. The same penalty applies to missed contributions required under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. There is no penalty if the people responsible did not know about the failure and could not have found it with reasonable care. The penalty is also excused if the failure had a reasonable cause, was not willful neglect, and is fixed within 30 days of when the responsible people knew or should have known about it. The Treasury Secretary can also waive part or all of the penalty when it would be excessive compared to the failure.

Title 26, §9707

Internal Revenue Code, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)There is hereby imposed a penalty on the failure of any assigned operator to pay any premium required to be paid under section 9704 with respect to any eligible beneficiary.

(2)There is hereby imposed a penalty on the failure of any person to make a contribution required under section 402(h)(5)(B)(ii) of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to a plan referred to in section 402(h)(2)(C) of such Act. For purposes of applying this section, each such required monthly contribution for the hours worked of any individual shall be treated as if it were a premium required to be paid under section 9704 with respect to an eligible beneficiary.

(b)The amount of the penalty imposed by subsection (a) on any failure with respect to any eligible beneficiary shall be $100 per day in the noncompliance period with respect to any such failure.

(c)For purposes of this section, the term “noncompliance period” means, with respect to any failure to pay any premium or installment thereof, the period—

(1)beginning on the due date for such premium or installment, and

(2)ending on the date of payment of such premium or installment.

(d)(1)No penalty shall be imposed by subsection (a) on any failure during any period for which it is established to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Treasury that none of the persons responsible for such failure knew, or exercising reasonable diligence would have known, that such failure existed.

(2)No penalty shall be imposed by subsection (a) on any failure if—

(A)such failure was due to reasonable cause and not to willful neglect, and

(B)such failure is corrected during the 30-day period beginning on the 1st date that any of the persons responsible for such failure knew, or exercising reasonable diligence would have known, that such failure existed.

(3)In the case of a failure that is due to reasonable cause and not to willful neglect, the Secretary of the Treasury may waive all or part of the penalty imposed by subsection (a) for failures to the extent that the Secretary determines, in his sole discretion, that the payment of such penalty would be excessive relative to the failure involved.

(e)The person failing to meet the requirements of section 9704 shall be liable for the penalty imposed by subsection (a).

(f)For purposes of this title, the penalty imposed by this section shall be treated in the same manner as the tax imposed by section 4980B.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 402 of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, referred to in subsec. (a)(2), is classified to section 1232 of Title 30, Mineral Lands and Mining.

Amendments

2006—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 109–432 amended heading and text of subsec. (a) generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “There is hereby imposed a penalty on the failure of any assigned operator to pay any premium required to be paid under section 9704 with respect to any eligible beneficiary.” 1996—Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 104–188 struck out comma after “diligence”.

§9707 Failure to Pay Premium