I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1798 

To prohibit the Department of the Treasury from assigning tax statuses 

to organizations based on their political beliefs and activities. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 15, 2015 

Mr. NEUGEBAUER (for himself, Mr. BABIN, Mr. CARTER of Texas, and Mr. 

FARENTHOLD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To prohibit the Department of the Treasury from assigning 

tax statuses to organizations based on their political beliefs and activities. 

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

3 SECTION 1. PROHIBITING TAX STATUS FROM BEING AS4 SIGNED BASED ON POLITICAL BELIEFS AND 

5 ACTIVITIES. 

6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) The income tax system of the United States 

8 relies on voluntary compliance by taxpayers. 


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1 (2) The filing of tax returns and other tax-re2 lated documents with the Internal Revenue Service 

3 often requires the submission of information to the 

4 Federal Government that taxpayers would otherwise 

5 consider private. 

6 (3) To ensure widespread voluntary compliance 

7 by taxpayers, the American public must have abso8 lute trust that the Internal Revenue Service is acting 

9 in a non-partisan manner. 

10 (4) Taxpayers must be ensured that their treat11 ment by the Internal Revenue Service will not be 

12 based on race, national origin, gender, sexual ori13 entation, religious beliefs, or political creed, includ14 ing their support for or opposition to any Govern15 ment policies. 

16 (5) The confidence of taxpayers in the system 

17 of taxation in the United States is compromised 

18 when the Internal Revenue Service is required to as19 sign tax treatment based on political beliefs or ac20 tivities. 

21 (6) The targeting of certain individuals and 

22 groups by the Internal Revenue Service based on 

23 their political beliefs and activities must be stopped, 

24 and to ensure the integrity of the income tax system 

25 of the United States, the Internal Revenue Service 


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1 should be removed from evaluating the political ac2 tivities of any individuals or organizations. 

3 (b) POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS.—Section 527(e)(1) 

4 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read 

5 as follows: 

6 ‘‘(1) POLITICAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘po7 litical organization’ means a party, committee, asso8 ciation, fund, or other organization (whether or not 

9 incorporated)— 

10 ‘‘(A) which is registered as a political com11 mittee with the Federal Election Commission, 

12 ‘‘(B) has been determined, pursuant to 

13 proceedings under section 309 of the Federal 

14 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 

15 437g) or by a court of law, to be a political 

16 committee, as defined under section 301(4) of 

17 such Act (2 U.S.C. 431(4)), or 

18 ‘‘(C) which is organized and operated pri19 marily for the purposes of directly or indirectly 

20 accepting contributions or making expenditures, 

21 or both, for influencing or attempting to influ22 ence the selection, nomination, election, or ap23 pointment of any individual to any State or 

24 local public office and— 


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1 ‘‘(i) is not required to register with 

2 the Federal Election Commission, and 

3 ‘‘(ii) is required to register with the 

4 appropriate State agency as a political 

5 committee.’’. 

6 (c) TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS.—Section 501 of 

7 such Code is amended by adding at the end the following 

8 new subsection: 

9 ‘‘(s) PROMOTION OF SOCIAL WELFARE.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of subsection 

11 (c)(4)(A), the term ‘promotion of social welfare’ 

12 shall include— 

13 ‘‘(A) any political activity in furtherance of 

14 American democracy, provided that such activi15 ties do not exceed 50 percent of the organiza16 tion’s total activities (not including activities 

17 performed on a volunteer basis), 

18 ‘‘(B) any activities for the purpose of edu19 cating individuals on issues of public impor20 tance and on the behavior of public officials, in21 cluding participation in ballot initiatives and 

22 referenda, and 

23 ‘‘(C) any activity described in clauses (i), 

24 (ii), (iii), and (v) of section 301(9)(B) of the 


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1 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 

2 U.S.C. 431(9)(B)). 

3 ‘‘(2) POLITICAL ACTIVITY IN FURTHERANCE OF

4 AMERICAN DEMOCRACY.—For purposes of this sub5 section, the term ‘political activity in furtherance of 

6 American democracy’ shall include any activity de7 scribed in subparagraph (A) of section 301(9) of the 

8 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 

9 431(9)). 

10 ‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

11 this subsection shall be construed to exempt an or12 ganization from satisfying any applicable require13 ments for filing as a political committee pursuant to 

14 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 

15 U.S.C. 431 et seq.).’’. 

Æ 


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