H 1083

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
  SESSION 2025
 H  3
  HOUSE BILL 1083
  Committee Substitute Favorable 5/12/26
  Committee Substitute #2 Favorable 6/30/26
 Short Title:   Voluntary Portable Benefits Plan Act.  (Public)
 Sponsors:
 Referred to:
  April 30, 2026
1A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
2 AN ACT TO ENACT THE VOLUNTARY PORTABLE BENEFITS PLAN ACT.
3 The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
4SECTION 1. Chapter 66 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Article
5 to read:
6"Article 53.
7"Voluntary Portable Benefits Plan Act.
8 "§ 66-530. Title; definitions.
9     (a)    This Article is known and may be cited as the "Voluntary Portable Benefits Plan Act."
10     (b)    The following definitions apply in this Article:
11(1)    Bank. – A banking corporation entitled to operate in this State under Chapter
1253C of the General Statutes with deposits insured by the Federal Deposit
13Insurance Corporation.
14(2)    Commissioner. – The Commissioner of the North Carolina Department of
15Labor.
16(3)    Compensation. – Remuneration for services performed by an independent
17contractor.
18(4)    Contribution. – Funds deposited into a portable benefits account.
19(5)    Contributor. – A person or entity, other than the account owner and including
20a hiring party, who makes a contribution to a portable benefit account.
21(6)    Hiring party. – A person or entity, whether public or private, including an
22internet or application-based company, who hires or enters into a contract for
23the performance of work with an independent contractor.
24(7)    Independent contractor. – As defined in G.S. 96-1(b)(19).
25(8)    Portable benefit account or account. – An account owned by an independent
26contractor that is administered by a portable benefit account provider and used
27to fund the purchase of one or more portable benefit plans.
28(9)    Portable benefit account provider or account provider. – Any of the following
29that administer a portable benefit account:
30a.       A bank.
31b.       An investment management firm.
32c.       A technology provider or program manager that offers services
33through a bank or investment management firm.
34d.       Any other person who demonstrates to the satisfaction of the
35Commissioner that the manner in which the person administers
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 General Assembly Of North Carolina  Session 2025
1portable benefit accounts is consistent with the requirements under
2G.S. 66-532.
3(10) Portable benefit plan. – A plan that meets all of the following conditions:
4a.      It funds benefits permissible under G.S. 66-531(c).
5b.      It is chosen by an independent contractor and is assigned to a
6beneficiary other than a hiring party.
7c.      It is administered by a third-party portable benefit plan provider.
8(11) Portable benefit plan provider. – A person or entity licensed or otherwise
9authorized to offer insurance or benefit plans in the State.
10 "§ 66-531. Portable benefit accounts; contributions; ownership; applicability.
11     (a)     Voluntary Contributions; Written Agreement. – Any person or entity, including an
12 internet or application-based entity, may make a contribution to a portable benefit account. The
13 following provisions apply to a hiring party that makes a contribution to a portable benefit
14 account owned by an independent contractor with whom the hiring party has entered into a
15 contract for the performance or work:
16(1)     The independent contractor must affirmatively opt in through an express
17written agreement that is clear, unambiguous, and prominently displayed
18either in a work contract or a separate invoice. The agreement must indicate
19that the making of contributions by a hiring party and the receipt of
20contributions by an independent contractor are voluntary and must allow the
21independent contractor to opt out at any time.
22(2)     The hiring party shall not induce or require an independent contractor to
23maintain an account with a specific portable benefit account provider as a
24condition of receiving contributions.
25(3)     The hiring party shall treat contributions as compensation.
26     (b)     Ownership and Portability. – A portable benefit account is at all times the sole
27 property of the independent contractor who owns it. Funds in the account, including contributions
28 and earnings, are not subject to claims of a contributor or the account's creditors arising from the
29 hiring relationship and do not revert to the hiring party. A hiring party has no ownership,
30 reversionary, or control interest in a portable benefit account. The account owner may, at any
31 time and without penalty, beyond reasonable disclosed transfer costs, (i) cease contributions, (ii)
32 change the portable benefit plans purchased through the account, and (iii) transfer the account
33 balance to another qualified portable benefit account provider.
34     (c)     Permitted Use of Funds. – Portable benefit account funds may be used only to
35 purchase portable benefit plans for the benefits listed in this subsection, to pay reasonable and
36 disclosed portable benefit account fees, or for distribution to the portable benefit account owner.
37 The permissible benefits are:
38(1)     Health Savings Accounts.
39(2)     Flexibility Spending Accounts.
40(3)     Health Reimbursement Arrangements.
41(4)     Transportation/parking accounts.
42(5)     Health insurance.
43(6)     Healthcare sharing contributions.
44(7)     Healthcare subscriptions.
45(8)     Income replacement insurance.
46(9)     Disability insurance.
47(10) Life insurance.
48(11) Individual Retirement Accounts.
49(12) 401(k) retirement accounts.
50(13) Retirement savings accounts.
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1     (d)     Not Evidence of Employer-Employee Relationship. – Contributions by a hiring party
2 to a portable benefit account are not treated as evidence that a worker is an employee of the hiring
3 party under State unemployment insurance, worker's compensation, or labor laws. Nothing in
4 this Article alters, expands, or contracts the test for independent contractor status under any other
5 provision of law, and the existence of a portable benefit account or any contribution to it shall
6 not be a factor in that determination.
7     (e)     Inapplicability to State Unemployment Insurance. – Nothing in this Article affects
8 entitlement to unemployment insurance benefits under Chapter 96 of the General Statutes.
9 "§ 66-532. Portable benefit account providers.
10     (a)     Selection. – An independent contractor who opts in to receiving contributions from a
11 hiring party shall select a portable benefit account provider to administer the funds.
12     (b)     Limitations. – The following limitations apply with respect to portable benefit
13 account providers:
14(1)      A hiring party, or an entity controlled by or under common control with a
15hiring party, shall not serve as the portable benefit account provider for an
16independent contractor it engages, except as a pass-through contributor of
17funds.
18(2)      A portable benefit account provider shall not condition the distribution of
19funds in a portable benefit account on continued work for any hiring party.
20     (c)     Segregation of Funds. – A portable benefit account provider shall hold all account
21 funds in trust for, or as custodian for, the benefit of the account owner, segregated from the
22 provider's own assets and from the assets of a hiring party. Account provider funds shall not be
23 commingled with portable benefit account funds.
24     (d)     Fee Disclosure. – Before an independent contractor opens an account or any
25 contributions under G.S. 66-531 are made, the account provider shall disclose, in writing and in
26 clear and conspicuous terms, all fees, charges, and penalties associated with the account, and any
27 material change shall be disclosed in writing at least 30 days before it takes effect.
28     (e)     Financial Responsibility. – A portable benefit account provider, other than a bank,
29 shall maintain a fidelity bond, errors and omissions coverage, or other financial assurance in an
30 amount established by the Commissioner sufficient to protect account owners against loss from
31 the account provider's negligence, fraud, or insolvency.
32     (f)     Record Keeping; Audit. – A portable benefit account provider shall maintain accurate
33 records of all contributions, earnings, fees, and distributions for each portable benefit account,
34 shall furnish each account owner with a statement no less than quarterly, and shall make its
35 records available, upon request, to the Commissioner or the Secretary of Revenue, as applicable.
36 The Commissioner may audit an account provider's compliance with this Article.
37     (g)     Standard of Care. – A portable benefit account provider shall administer each account
38 solely in the interest of the account owner and with the care, skill, and diligence that a prudent
39 administrator uses.
40     (h)     Commissioner Approval; Revocation; Rulemaking. – The Commissioner may
41 approve a person under G.S. 66-530(b)(9)d. only upon a showing of compliance with this section
42 and may suspend or revoke approval for noncompliance after notice and an opportunity to be
43 heard. The Commissioner shall maintain and publish a list of approved portable benefit account
44 providers. The Commissioner of Labor may adopt rules necessary to make a determination under
45 G.S. 66-530(b)(9)d."
46SECTION 2. G.S. 105-153.5(b) is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
47"(18) The amount of a contribution made to a portable benefit account under
48G.S. 66-531 during the taxable year to the extent it is included in the taxpayer's
49adjusted gross income."
50SECTION 3. G.S. 105-153.5(c) reads as rewritten:
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1     "(c) Additions. – In calculating North Carolina taxable income, a taxpayer must add to the
2 taxpayer's adjusted gross income any of the following items that are not included in the taxpayer's
3 adjusted gross income:
4…
5(8)    The amount withdrawn from a portable benefit account to the extent this
6amount was withdrawn and not used to pay for a portable benefit plan as
7permitted under Article 53 of Chapter 66 of the General Statutes."
8SECTION 4. G.S. 105-163.3(b) reads as rewritten:
9     "(b) Exemptions. – The withholding requirement does not apply to the following:
10…
11(6)    Compensation deposited into a portable benefit account on behalf of a payee
12in accordance with Article 53 of Chapter 66 of the General Statutes."
13SECTION 5. G.S. 105-251.2 is amended by adding a new subsection as follows:
14     "(c1) Portable Benefit Account Provider. – A portable benefit account provider, as defined
15 under G.S. 66-530, must give information to the Secretary when the Secretary requests the
16 information. The Secretary may not request the information more than once per calendar year.
17 The Secretary may request a portable benefit account provider to provide, on a return, report, or
18 otherwise, a portable benefit account owner's name, tax identification number, records of
19 contributions and distributions from any portable benefit account owned by an account owner,
20 and other information that the Secretary deems necessary to determine compliance with this
21 Chapter."
22SECTION 6. This act becomes effective January 1, 2027, and applies to taxable
23 years beginning on or after that date.
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