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[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4990 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4990

             To improve transparency in charity regulation.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 18, 2016

  Ms. Titus introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on the 
 Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
             To improve transparency in charity regulation.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Strengthening Charities Through 
Transparency Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. MANDATORY ELECTRONIC FILING FOR ANNUAL RETURNS OF EXEMPT 
              ORGANIZATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Section 6033 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
is amended by redesignating subsection (n) as subsection (o) and by 
inserting after subsection (m) the following new subsection:
    ``(n) Mandatory Electronic Filing.--Any organization required to 
file a return under this section shall file such return in electronic 
form.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of 
this Act.

SEC. 3. INSPECTION OF ELECTRONICALLY FILED ANNUAL RETURNS OF EXEMPT 
              ORGANIZATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Section 6104(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 is amended by adding at the end the following: ``Any annual return 
required to be filed electronically under section 6033(n) shall be made 
available by the Secretary to the public in machine readable format as 
soon as practicable.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to returns filed for taxable years beginning after the date of 
the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF DATABASE LISTING CHARITIES AND CHARITY 
              MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS CONVICTED OF FRAUD.

    (a) In General.--Upon request by the Attorney General, a State 
shall make available information regarding a charity or a charity 
management official that has been convicted of a fraud, theft, or a 
financial offense. Beginning not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall establish a database 
that lists each such charity or charity management official. 
Information received under this subsection shall be made available to 
State Attorneys General for regulatory and law enforcement purposes.
    (b) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The terms ``charity'', ``charity management official'', 
        ``information'', and ``financial offenses'' have such meanings 
        as the Attorney General shall by rule establish.
            (2) The term ``State'' means any of the several States, the 
        District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 
        Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, the Virgin 
        Islands, American Samoa, and any other territory or possession 
        of the United States.
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