(a) When a State statute—

(1) provides for the collection of a tax either by imposing on employers generally the duty of withholding sums from the pay of employees and making returns of the sums to the State, or by granting to employers generally the authority to withhold sums from the pay of employees if any employee voluntarily elects to have such sums withheld; and

(2) imposes the duty or grants the authority to withhold generally with respect to the pay of employees who are residents of the State;


the Secretary of the Treasury, under regulations prescribed by the President, shall enter into an agreement with the State within 120 days of a request for agreement from the proper State official. The agreement shall provide that the head of each agency of the United States shall comply with the requirements of the State withholding statute in the case of employees of the agency who are subject to the tax and whose regular place of Federal employment is within the State with which the agreement is made. In the case of pay for service as a member of the armed forces, the preceding sentence shall be applied by substituting “who are residents of the State with which the agreement is made” for “whose regular place of Federal employment is within the State with which the agreement is made”.

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(b) This section does not give the consent of the United States to the application of a statute which imposes more burdensome requirements on the United States than on other employers, or which subjects the United States or its employees to a penalty or liability because of this section. An agency of the United States may not accept pay from a State for services performed in withholding State income taxes from the pay of the employees of the agency.

(c) For the purpose of this section, “State” means a State, territory, possession, or commonwealth of the United States.

(d) For the purpose of this section and sections 5516 and 5520, the terms “serve as a member of the armed forces” and “service as a member of the Armed Forces” include—

(1) participation in exercises or the performance of duty under section 502 of title 32, United States Code, by a member of the National Guard; and

(2) participation in scheduled drills or training periods, or service on active duty for training, under section 10147 of title 10, United States Code, by a member of the Ready Reserve.