II 

Calendar No. 312 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2067 

To prohibit the Department of the Treasury from assigning tax statuses 

to organizations based on their political beliefs and activities. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2014 

Mr. CRUZ (for himself and Mr. GRASSLEY) introduced the following bill; which 

was read the first time 

MARCH 3, 2014 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 

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: 

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

2 relies on voluntary compliance by taxpayers. 

3 (2) The filing of tax returns and other tax-re4 lated documents with the Internal Revenue Service 

5 often requires the submission of information to the 

6 Federal government that taxpayers would otherwise 

7 consider private. 

8 (3) To ensure widespread voluntary compliance 

9 by taxpayers, the American public must have abso10 lute trust that the Internal Revenue Service is acting 

11 in a non-partisan manner. 

12 (4) Taxpayers must be ensured that their treat13 ment by the Internal Revenue Service will not be 

14 based on race, national origin, gender, sexual ori15 entation, religious beliefs, or political creed, includ16 ing their support for or opposition to any govern17 ment policies. 

18 (5) The confidence of taxpayers in the system 

19 of taxation in the United States is compromised 

20 when the Internal Revenue Service is required to as21 sign tax treatment based on political beliefs or ac22 tivities. 

23 (6) The targeting of certain individuals and 

24 groups by the Internal Revenue Services based on 

25 their political beliefs and activities must be stopped, 

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1 and to ensure the integrity of the income tax system 

2 of the United States, the Internal Revenue Service 

3 should be removed from evaluating the political ac4 tivities of any individuals or organizations. 

5 (b) POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS.—Paragraph (1) of 

6 section 527(e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

7 amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(1) POLITICAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘po9 litical organization’ means a party, committee, asso10 ciation, fund, or other organization (whether or not 

11 incorporated)— 

12 ‘‘(A) which is registered as a political com13 mittee with the Federal Election Commission, 

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

15 proceedings under section 309 of the Federal 

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

17 437g) or by a court of law, to be a political 

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

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

20 ‘‘(C) which is organized and operated pri21 marily for the purposes of directly or indirectly 

22 accepting contributions or making expenditures, 

23 or both, for influencing or attempting to influ24 ence the selection, nomination, election, or apmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 pointment of any individual to any State or 

2 local public office and— 

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

4 the Federal Election Commission, and 

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

6 appropriate State agency as a political 

7 committee.’’. 

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

9 such Code is amended— 

10 (1) by redesignating subsection (s) as sub11 section (t), and 

12 (2) by inserting after subsection (r) the fol13 lowing new subsection: 

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

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of paragraph 

16 (4)(A) of subsection (c), the term ‘promotion of so17 cial welfare’ shall include— 

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

19 American democracy, provided that such activi20 ties do not exceed 50 percent of the organiza21 tion’s total activities (not including activities 

22 performed on a volunteer basis), 

23 ‘‘(B) any activities for the purpose of edu24 cating individuals on issues of public impor25 tance and on the behavior of public officials, inmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 cluding participation in ballot initiatives and 

2 referenda, and 

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

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

5 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 

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

7 ‘‘(2) POLITICAL ACTIVITY IN FURTHERANCE OF

8 AMERICAN DEMOCRACY.—For purposes of this sub9 section, the term ‘political activity in furtherance of 

10 American democracy’ shall include any activity de11 scribed in subparagraph (A) of section 301(9) of the 

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

13 431(9)). 

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

15 this subsection shall be construed to exempt an or16 ganization from satisfying any applicable require17 ments for filing as a political committee pursuant to 

18 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 

19 U.S.C. 431 et seq.).’’. 

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Calendar No. 312 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2067 

A BILL 

To prohibit the Department of the Treasury from 

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

MARCH 3, 2014 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 

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