I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 157

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a credit and 

a deduction for small political contributions. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 7, 2003

Mr. PETRI (for himself, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, and Mr. 

ENGLISH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 

a credit and a deduction for small political contributions.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Citizen Involvement 

5 in Campaigns Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TAX CREDIT FOR CERTAIN POLITICAL CONTRIBU7 TIONS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart A of part IV of sub9 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

10 1986 (relating to nonrefundable personal credits) is 
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1 amended by inserting after section 25B the following new 

2 section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 25C. CREDIT FOR POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS. 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual, 

5 there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed 

6 by this chapter for the taxable year an amount equal to 

7 all political contributions paid by the taxpayer during the 

8 taxable year. 

9 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.—

10 ‘‘(1) MAXIMUM CREDIT.—The credit allowed by 

11 subsection (a) shall not exceed $200 ($400 in the 

12 case of a joint return). 

13 ‘‘(2) VERIFICATION.—The credit allowed by 

14 subsection (a) shall be allowed with respect to any 

15 political contribution only if such contribution is 

16 verified in such manner as the Secretary shall pre17 scribe by regulation. 

18 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

19 ‘‘(1) POLITICAL CONTRIBUTION.—The term 

20 ‘political contribution’ means a contribution or gift 

21 of money, or the fair market value of a contribution 

22 or gift of property, to—

23 ‘‘(A) an individual who is a candidate for 

24 nomination or election to any Federal elective 

25 public office in any primary, general, or special 
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1 election, for use by such individual to further 

2 the candidacy of the individual for nomination 

3 or election to such office, or 

4 ‘‘(B) the national committee of a national 

5 political party. 

6 ‘‘(2) CANDIDATE.—The term ‘candidate’ 

7 means, with respect to any Federal elective public 

8 office, an individual who—

9 ‘‘(A) publicly announces before the close of 

10 the calendar year following the calendar year in 

11 which the political contribution is made that the 

12 individual is a candidate for nomination or elec13 tion to such office; and

14 ‘‘(B) meets the qualifications prescribed by 

15 law to hold such office. 

16 ‘‘(3) NATIONAL POLITICAL PARTY.—The term 

17 ‘national political party’ means—

18 ‘‘(A) in the case of political contributions 

19 made during a taxable year of the taxpayer in 

20 which the electors of President and Vice Presi21 dent are chosen, a political party presenting 

22 candidates or electors for such offices on the of23 ficial election ballot of ten or more States; or 

24 ‘‘(B) in the case of political contributions 

25 made during any other taxable year of the tax-
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1 payer, a political party which met the qualifica2 tions described in subparagraph (A) in the last 

3 preceding election of a President and Vice 

4 President. 

5 ‘‘(d) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No deduction 

6 shall be allowed under this chapter to a taxpayer for any 

7 political contribution made during the taxable year if any 

8 credit is allowed under this section to such taxpayer for 

9 such year. 

10 ‘‘(e) CROSS REFERENCES.—

‘‘For transfer of appreciated property to a political organization, see section 84. 

‘‘For certain indirect contributions to political 

parties, see section 276.’’.

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec12 tions for subpart A of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 

13 1 of such Code (relating to nonrefundable personal cred14 its) is amended by inserting after the item relating to sec15 tion 25B the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 25C. Credit for political contributions.’’

16 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

17 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

18 December 31 of the calendar year in which this Act is 

19 enacted.
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1 SEC. 3. DEDUCTION FOR CERTAIN POLITICAL CONTRIBU2 TIONS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part VII of subchapter B of chap4 ter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended 

5 by redesignating section 223 as section 224 and by insert6 ing after section 222 the following new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 223. POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual, 

9 there shall be allowed as a deduction for the taxable year 

10 an amount equal to the qualified political contributions 

11 made by the taxpayer during the taxable year. 

12 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—The amount allowed as a deduc13 tion under subsection (a) for the taxable year shall not 

14 exceed $600 ($1200 in the case of a joint return). 

15 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED POLITICAL CONTRIBUTION.—For 

16 purposes of this section, the term ‘qualified political con17 tribution’ shall have the meaning given the term ‘political 

18 contribution’ by section 25C(c)(1).’’. 

19 (b) DEDUCTION ALLOWED WHETHER OR NOT TAX20 PAYER ITEMIZES OTHER DEDUCTIONS.—Subsection (a) 

21 of section 62 of such Code is amended by inserting after 

22 paragraph (18) the following new item: 

23 ‘‘(19) QUALIFIED POLITICAL CONTRIBU24 TIONS.—The deduction allowed by section 223.’’. 

25 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

26 for part VII of subchapter B of chapter 1 of such Code 
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1 is amended by striking the last item and inserting the fol2 lowing new items:

‘‘Sec. 223. Political contributions. 

‘‘Sec. 224. Cross reference.’’.

3 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

5 December 31 of the calendar year in which this Act is 

6 enacted.

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