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S 1706 113th Congress Senate

Fair Playing Field Act of 2013

Official title: A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit the Secretary of the Treasury to issue prospective guidance clarifying the employment status of ind… Show full official titleShow less

Official title: A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit the Secretary of the Treasury to issue prospective guidance clarifying the employment status of individuals for purposes of employment taxes and to prevent retroactive assessments with respect to such clarifications.

Introduced: November 14, 2013 See on congress.gov
Taxation Administrative law and regulatory proceduresCensus and government statisticsContracts and agencyDepartment of the Treasury
More subjectsShow fewer subjects
Employment taxesTax administration and collection, taxpayers
This bill died when the 113th Congress ended
It never became law before the 113th Congress (2013–2014) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Nov 14, 2013
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Nov 14, 2013
Introduced in Senate
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 Latest action November 14, 2013

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Fair Playing Field Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the classification of workers for employment tax purposes, to: (1) repeal the prohibition against issuance of regulations and guidance by the Secretary of the Treasury on workers' employment tax status (i.e., as an employee or as an independent contractor) enacted by the Revenue Act of 1978; (2) direct the Secretary to issue regulations and other guidance to clarify the proper employment status of workers for employment tax purposes; (3) prohibit a retroactive assessment of employment tax, except with respect to certain skilled workers, for tax periods after December 31, 1978, and before a specified reclassification date for worker misclassifications, unless the taxpayer had no reasonable basis for not treating a worker as an employee; (4) require taxpayers who hire independent contractors on a regular and ongoing basis to provide such contractors with notice of their federal tax obligations, the labor and employment law protections that do not apply to them, and their right to seek a status determination from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS); and (5) eliminate reduced penalty provisions for failure to withhold income taxes for taxpayers who lack a reasonable basis for treating a worker as other than an employee (i.e., as an independent contractor).

Provides that for purposes of determining whether a registered representative of a securities broker-dealer is an employee for employment tax purposes, no weight shall be given to instructions from a service recipient which are imposed only in compliance with investor protection standards. Makes this rule applicable to services performed by a broker-dealer after December 31, 1997.

 Related & companion bills 1
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
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APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 1706: Fair Playing Field Act of 2013. 113th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/113-S-1706/
MLA
"S. 1706: Fair Playing Field Act of 2013." 113th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/113-S-1706/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 1706, 113th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/113-S-1706/.
Markdown link
[S. 1706: Fair Playing Field Act of 2013](https://openamerica.io/bill/113-S-1706/)
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