26 U.S.C. § 3231 : US Code - Section 3231: Definitions

Search 26 U.S.C. § 3231 : US Code - Section 3231: Definitions

(a) Employer
For purposes of this chapter, the term "employer" means any
carrier (as defined in subsection (g)), and any company which is
directly or indirectly owned or controlled by one or more such
carriers or under common control therewith, and which operates any
equipment or facility or performs any service (except trucking
service, casual service, and the casual operation of equipment or
facilities) in connection with the transportation of passengers or
property by railroad, or the receipt, delivery, elevation, transfer
in transit, refrigeration or icing, storage, or handling of
property transported by railroad, and any receiver, trustee, or
other individual or body, judicial or otherwise, when in the
possession of the property or operating all or any part of the
business of any such employer; except that the term "employer"
shall not include any street, interurban, or suburban electric
railway, unless such railway is operating as a part of a general
steam-railroad system of transportation, but shall not exclude any
part of the general steam-railroad system of transportation now or
hereafter operated by any other motive power. The Surface
Transportation Board is hereby authorized and directed upon request
of the Secretary, or upon complaint of any party interested, to
determine after hearing whether any line operated by electric power
falls within the terms of this exception. The term "employer" shall
also include railroad associations, traffic associations, tariff
bureaus, demurrage bureaus, weighing and inspection bureaus,
collection agencies and other associations, bureaus, agencies, or
organizations controlled and maintained wholly or principally by
two or more employers as hereinbefore defined and engaged in the
performance of services in connection with or incidental to
railroad transportation; and railway labor organizations, national
in scope, which have been or may be organized in accordance with
the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, as amended (45 U.S.C.,
chapter 8), and their State and National legislative committees and
their general committees and their insurance departments and their
local lodges and divisions, established pursuant to the
constitutions and bylaws of such organizations. The term "employer"
shall not include any company by reason of its being engaged in the
mining of coal, the supplying of coal to an employer where delivery
is not beyond the mine tipple, and the operation of equipment or
facilities therefor, or in any of such activities.
(b) Employee
For purposes of this chapter, the term "employee" means any
individual in the service of one or more employers for
compensation; except that the term "employee" shall include an
employee of a local lodge or division defined as an employer in
subsection (a) only if he was in the service of or in the
employment relation to a carrier on or after August 29, 1935. An
individual shall be deemed to have been in the employment relation
to a carrier on August 29, 1935, if -
(1) he was on that date on leave of absence from his
employment, expressly granted to him by the carrier by whom he
was employed, or by a duly authorized representative of such
carrier, and the grant of such leave of absence was established
to the satisfaction of the Railroad Retirement Board before July
1947; or
(2) he was in the service of a carrier after August 29, 1935,
and before January 1946 in each of 6 calendar months, whether or
not consecutive; or
(3) before August 29, 1935, he did not retire and was not
retired or discharged from the service of the last carrier by
whom he was employed or its corporate or operating successor, but
-
(A) solely by reason of his physical or mental disability he
ceased before August 29, 1935, to be in the service of such
carrier and thereafter remained continuously disabled until he
attained age 65 or until August 1945, or
(B) solely for such last stated reason a carrier by whom he
was employed before August 29, 1935, or a carrier who is its
successor did not on or after August 29, 1935, and before
August 1945 call him to return to service, or
(C) if he was so called he was solely for such reason unable
to render service in 6 calendar months as provided in paragraph
(2); or
(4) he was on August 29, 1935, absent from the service of a
carrier by reason of a discharge which, within 1 year after the
effective date thereof, was protested, to an appropriate labor
representative or to the carrier, as wrongful, and which was
followed within 10 years of the effective date thereof by his
reinstatement in good faith to his former service with all his
seniority rights;
except that an individual shall not be deemed to have been on
August 29, 1935, in the employment relation to a carrier if before
that date he was granted a pension or gratuity on the basis of
which a pension was awarded to him pursuant to section 6 of the
Railroad Retirement Act of 1937 (45 U.S.C. 228f), or if during the
last payroll period before August 29, 1935, in which he rendered
service to a carrier he was not in the service of an employer, in
accordance with subsection (d), with respect to any service in such
payroll period, or if he could have been in the employment relation
to an employer only by reason of his having been, either before or
after August 29, 1935, in the service of a local lodge or division
defined as an employer in subsection (a). The term "employee"
includes an officer of an employer. The term "employee" shall not
include any individual while such individual is engaged in the
physical operations consisting of the mining of coal, the
preparation of coal, the handling (other than movement by rail with
standard railroad locomotives) of coal not beyond the mine tipple,
or the loading of coal at the tipple.
(c) Employee representative
For purposes of this chapter, the term "employee representative"
means any officer or official representative of a railway labor
organization other than a labor organization included in the term
"employer" as defined in subsection (a), who before or after June
29, 1937, was in the service of an employer as defined in
subsection (a) and who is duly authorized and designated to
represent employees in accordance with the Railway Labor Act (45
U.S.C., chapter 8), as amended, and any individual who is regularly
assigned to or regularly employed by such officer or official
representative in connection with the duties of his office.
(d) Service
For purposes of this chapter, an individual is in the service of
an employer whether his service is rendered within or without the
United States, if -
(1) he is subject to the continuing authority of the employer
to supervise and direct the manner of rendition of his service,
or he is rendering professional or technical services and is
integrated into the staff of the employer, or he is rendering, on
the property used in the employer's operations, other personal
services the rendition of which is integrated into the employer's
operations, and
(2) he renders such service for compensation;
except that an individual shall be deemed to be in the service of
an employer, other than a local lodge or division or a general
committee of a railway-labor-organization employer, not conducting
the principal part of its business in the United States, only when
he is rendering service to it in the United States; and an
individual shall be deemed to be in the service of such a local
lodge or division only if -
(3) all, or substantially all, the individuals constituting its
membership are employees of an employer conducting the principal
part of its business in the United States; or
(4) the headquarters of such local lodge or division is located
in the United States;
and an individual shall be deemed to be in the service of such a
general committee only if -
(5) he is representing a local lodge or division described in
paragraph (3) or (4) immediately above; or
(6) all, or substantially all, the individuals represented by
it are employees of an employer conducting the principal part of
its business in the United States; or
(7) he acts in the capacity of a general chairman or an
assistant general chairman of a general committee which
represents individuals rendering service in the United States to
an employer, but in such case if his office or headquarters is
not located in the United States and the individuals represented
by such general committee are employees of an employer not
conducting the principal part of its business in the United
States, only such proportion of the remuneration for such service
shall be regarded as compensation as the proportion which the
mileage in the United States under the jurisdiction of such
general committee bears to the total mileage under its
jurisdiction, unless such mileage formula is inapplicable, in
which case such other formula as the Railroad Retirement Board
may have prescribed pursuant to section 1(c) of the Railroad
Retirement Act of 1937 (45 U.S.C. 228a) shall be applicable, and
if the application of such mileage formula, or such other formula
as the Board may prescribe, would result in the compensation of
the individual being less than 10 percent of his remuneration for
such service, no part of such remuneration shall be regarded as
compensation;
Provided however, That an individual not a citizen or resident of
the United States shall not be deemed to be in the service of an
employer when rendering service outside the United States to an
employer who is required under the laws applicable in the place
where the service is rendered to employ therein, in whole or in
part, citizens or residents thereof; and the laws applicable on
August 29, 1935, in the place where the service is rendered shall
be deemed to have been applicable there at all times prior to that
date.
(e) Compensation
For purposes of this chapter -
(1) The term "compensation" means any form of money
remuneration paid to an individual for services rendered as an
employee to one or more employers. Such term does not include (i)
the amount of any payment (including any amount paid by an
employer for insurance or annuities, or into a fund, to provide
for any such payment) made to, or on behalf of, an employee or
any of his dependents under a plan or system established by an
employer which makes provision for his employees generally (or
for his employees generally and their dependents) or for a class
or classes of his employees (or for a class or classes of his
employees and their dependents), on account of sickness or
accident disability or medical or hospitalization expenses in
connection with sickness or accident disability or death, except
that this clause does not apply to a payment for group-term life
insurance to the extent that such payment is includible in the
gross income of the employee, (ii) tips (except as is provided
under paragraph (3)), (iii) an amount paid specifically - either
as an advance, as reimbursement or allowance - for traveling or
other bona fide and necessary expenses incurred or reasonably
expected to be incurred in the business of the employer provided
any such payment is identified by the employer either by a
separate payment or by specifically indicating the separate
amounts where both wages and expense reimbursement or allowance
are combined in a single payment, or (iv) any remuneration which
would not (if chapter 21 applied to such remuneration) be treated
as wages (as defined in section 3121(a)) by reason of section
3121(a)(5). Such term does not include remuneration for service
which is performed by a nonresident alien individual for the
period he is temporarily present in the United States as a
nonimmigrant under subparagraph (F), (J), (M), or (Q) of section
101(a)(15) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended,
and which is performed to carry out the purpose specified in
subparagraph (F), (J), (M), or (Q), as the case may be. For the
purpose of determining the amount of taxes under sections 3201
and 3221, compensation earned in the service of a local lodge or
division of a railway-labor-organization employer shall be
disregarded with respect to any calendar month if the amount
thereof is less than $25. Compensation for service as a delegate
to a national or international convention of a railway labor
organization defined as an "employer" in subsection (a) of this
section shall be disregarded for purposes of determining the
amount of taxes due pursuant to this chapter if the individual
rendering such service has not previously rendered service, other
than as such a delegate, which may be included in his "years of
service" for purposes of the Railroad Retirement Act. Nothing in
the regulations prescribed for purposes of chapter 24 (relating
to wage withholding) which provides an exclusion from "wages" as
used in such chapter shall be construed to require a similar
exclusion from "compensation" in regulations prescribed for
purposes of this chapter.
(2) Application of contribution bases
(A) Compensation in excess of applicable base excluded
(i) In general
The term "compensation" does not include that part of
remuneration paid during any calendar year to an individual
by an employer after remuneration equal to the applicable
base has been paid during such calendar year to such
individual by such employer for services rendered as an
employee to such employer.
(ii) Remuneration not treated as compensation excluded
There shall not be taken into account under clause (i)
remuneration which (without regard to clause (i)) is not
treated as compensation under this subsection.
(iii) Hospital insurance taxes
Clause (i) shall not apply to -
(I) so much of the rate applicable under section 3201(a)
or 3221(a) as does not exceed the rate of tax in effect
under section 3101(b), and
(II) so much of the rate applicable under section 3211(a)
as does not exceed the rate of tax in effect under section
1401(b).
(B) Applicable base
(i) Tier 1 taxes
Except as provided in clause (ii), the term "applicable
base" means for any calendar year the contribution and
benefit base determined under section 230 of the Social
Security Act for such calendar year.
(ii) Tier 2 taxes, etc.
For purposes of -
(I) the taxes imposed by sections 3201(b), 3211(b), and
3221(b), and
(II) computing average monthly compensation under section
3(j) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 (except with
respect to annuity amounts determined under subsection (a)
or (f)(3) of section 3 of such Act),
clause (2) of the first sentence, and the second sentence, of
subsection (c) of section 230 of the Social Security Act
shall be disregarded.
(C) Successor employers
For purposes of this paragraph, the second sentence of
section 3121(a)(1) (relating to successor employers) shall
apply, except that -
(i) the term "services" shall be substituted for
"employment" each place it appears,
(ii) the term "compensation" shall be substituted for
"remuneration (other than remuneration referred to in the
succeeding paragraphs of this subsection)" each place it
appears, and
(iii) the terms "employer", "services", and "compensation"
shall have the meanings given such terms by this section.
(3) Solely for purposes of the taxes imposed by section 3201
and other provisions of this chapter insofar as they relate to
such taxes, the term "compensation" also includes cash tips
received by an employee in any calendar month in the course of
his employment by an employer unless the amount of such cash tips
is less than $20.
(4)(A) For purposes of applying sections 3201(a), 3211(a), and
3221(a), in the case of payments made to an employee or any of
his dependents on account of sickness or accident disability,
clause (i) of the second sentence of paragraph (1) shall exclude
from the term "compensation" only -
(i) payments which are received under a workmen's
compensation law, and
(ii) benefits received under the Railroad Retirement Act of
1974.
(B) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for purposes of
the sections specified in subparagraph (A), the term
"compensation" shall include benefits paid under section 2(a) of
the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act for days of sickness,
except to the extent that such sickness (as determined in
accordance with standards prescribed by the Railroad Retirement
Board) is the result of on-the-job injury.
(C) Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary,
subparagraphs (A) and (B) shall not apply to payments made after
the expiration of a 6-month period comparable to the 6-month
period described in section 3121(a)(4).
(D) Except as otherwise provided in regulations prescribed by
the Secretary, any third party which makes a payment included in
compensation solely by reason of subparagraph (A) or (B) shall be
treated for purposes of this chapter as the employer with respect
to such compensation.
(5) The term "compensation" shall not include any benefit
provided to or on behalf of an employee if at the time such
benefit is provided it is reasonable to believe that the employee
will be able to exclude such benefit from income under section
74(c), 108(f)(4), 117, or 132.
(6) The term "compensation" shall not include any payment made,
or benefit furnished, to or for the benefit of an employee if at
the time of such payment or such furnishing it is reasonable to
believe that the employee will be able to exclude such payment or
benefit from income under section 127.
(7) The term "compensation" shall not include any contribution,
payment, or service provided by an employer which may be excluded
from the gross income of an employee, his spouse, or his
dependents, under the provisions of section 120 (relating to
amounts received under qualified group legal services plans).
(8) Treatment of certain deferred compensation and salary
reduction arrangements
(A) Certain employer contributions treated as compensation
Nothing in any paragraph of this subsection (other than
paragraph (2)) shall exclude from the term "compensation" any
amount described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of section
3121(v)(1).
(B) Treatment of certain nonqualified deferred compensation
The rules of section 3121(v)(2) which apply for purposes of
chapter 21 shall also apply for purposes of this chapter.
(9) Meals and lodging
The term "compensation" shall not include the value of meals or
lodging furnished by or on behalf of the employer if at the time
of such furnishing it is reasonable to believe that the employee
will be able to exclude such items from income under section 119.
(10) Archer MSA contributions
The term "compensation" shall not include any payment made to
or for the benefit of an employee if at the time of such payment
it is reasonable to believe that the employee will be able to
exclude such payment from income under section 106(b).
(11) Health savings account contributions
The term "compensation" shall not include any payment made to
or for the benefit of an employee if at the time of such payment
it is reasonable to believe that the employee will be able to
exclude such payment from income under section 106(d).
(12) Qualified stock options
The term "compensation" shall not include any remuneration on
account of -
(A) a transfer of a share of stock to any individual pursuant
to an exercise of an incentive stock option (as defined in
section 422(b)) or under an employee stock purchase plan (as
defined in section 423(b)), or
(B) any disposition by the individual of such stock.
(f) Company
For purposes of this chapter, the term "company" includes
corporations, associations, and joint-stock companies.
(g) Carrier
For purposes of this chapter, the term "carrier" means a rail
carrier subject to part A of subtitle IV of title 49.
(h) Tips constituting compensation, time deemed paid
For purposes of this chapter, tips which constitute compensation
for purposes of the taxes imposed by section 3201 shall be deemed
to be paid at the time a written statement including such tips is
furnished to the employer pursuant to section 6053(a) or (if no
statement including such tips is so furnished) at the time
received.
(i) Concurrent employment by 2 or more employers
For purposes of this chapter, if 2 or more related corporations
which are employers concurrently employ the same individual and
compensate such individual through a common paymaster which is 1 of
such corporations, each such corporation shall be considered to
have paid as remuneration to such individual only the amounts
actually disbursed by it to such individual and shall not be
considered to have paid as remuneration to such individual amounts
actually disbursed to such individual by another of such
corporations.