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S. 1547 117th Congress Senate

Ivory Tower Tax Act of 2021

Official title: A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to apply a 1 percent excise tax on large endowments of certain private colleges and universities, to require … Show full official titleShow less

Official title: A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to apply a 1 percent excise tax on large endowments of certain private colleges and universities, to require that such institutions distribute at least 5 percent of large endowments in each taxable year, and for other purposes.

Introduced: May 11, 2021 Introduced by: Tom Cotton Republican · Arkansas See on congress.gov
Taxation Employment and training programsHigher educationSales and excise taxesSocial work, volunteer service, charitable organizations
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This bill died when the 117th Congress ended
It never became law before the 117th Congress (2021–2022) 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
May 11, 2021
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
May 11, 2021
Introduced in Senate
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 Latest action May 11, 2021

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Ivory Tower Tax Act of 2021

This bill imposes on each specified applicable educational institution an excise tax of 1% of the aggregate fair market value of its assets as of the end of the preceding taxable year. The bill defines specified applicable educational institution as any applicable educational institution, other than a religious institution, whose assets have an aggregate fair market of at least $2.5 billion at the end of the preceding taxable year.

The bill also imposes a 30% tax on undistributed excess endowment amounts of an educational institution, unless the failure to distribute such amounts is due to an incorrect valuation of assets that was not willful and was due to reasonable cause.

The bill requires the Department of the Treasury to transfer revenues generated by this bill to the Department of Labor to expand apprenticeship opportunities.

 Related & companion bills 1
  • S 4897 Student Loan Reform Act of 2022
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
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APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 1547: Ivory Tower Tax Act of 2021. 117th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/117-S-1547/
MLA
"S. 1547: Ivory Tower Tax Act of 2021." 117th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/117-S-1547/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 1547, 117th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/117-S-1547/.
Markdown link
[S. 1547: Ivory Tower Tax Act of 2021](https://openamerica.io/bill/117-S-1547/)
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