I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1204 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose penalties for the 
failure of 527 organizations to comply with disclosure requirements. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 27, 2007 
Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania (for himself and Mr. GOODE) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, 
and in addition to the Committee on House Administration, for a period 
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose 
penalties for the failure of 527 organizations to comply 
with disclosure requirements. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘527 Transparency Act 
of 2007’’. 
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SEC. 2. MANDATORY MONTHLY REPORTING. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 527(j)(2) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to required disclosure) is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(2) REQUIRED DISCLOSURE.—A political orga-
nization which accepts a contribution, or makes an 
expenditure, for an exempt function during any cal-
endar year shall file with the Secretary monthly re-
ports for each such year which shall be filed not 
later than the 20th day after the last day of the 
month and shall be complete as of the last day of 
the month, except that, in lieu of filing the reports 
otherwise due in November and December of any 
year in which a regularly scheduled general election 
is held, the organization shall file— 
‘‘(A) a pre-election report, which shall be 
filed no later than the 12th day before (or post-
ed by registered or certified mail no later than 
the 15th day before) any election with respect 
to which the organization accepts a contribution 
or makes an expenditure, and which shall be 
complete as of the 20th day before the election; 
‘‘(B) a post-general election report, which 
shall be filed no later than the 30th day after 
the general election and which shall be complete 
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as of the 20th day after such general election; 
and 
‘‘(C) a year-end report which shall be filed 
no later than January 31 of the following cal-
endar year.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
December 31, 2007. 
SEC. 3. FAILURE OF 527 ORGANIZATION TO COMPLY WITH 
DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) EXCISE TAX ON MANAGERS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter C of chapter 42 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 
adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 4956. TAX ON FAILURE OF POLITICAL ORGANIZA-
TIONS 
TO 
MEET 
DISCLOSURE 
REQUIRE-
MENTS. 
‘‘(a) TAX IMPOSED.—In the case of a failure of a po-
litical organization to meet the disclosure requirements of 
section 527(j) with respect to any contribution to or ex-
penditure from the political organization, there is hereby 
imposed on the political organization, in addition to any 
other tax or penalty provided in this title, a tax for each 
such failure. 
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‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF TAX.—The tax imposed by sub-
section (a) shall be 30 percent of the total amount of the 
contribution or expenditure with respect to which such 
failure occurred. 
‘‘(c) LIABILITY FOR TAX.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Except as provided by 
paragraph (2), the tax imposed by subsection (a) 
shall be paid by the political organization. 
‘‘(2) JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY OF ORGA-
NIZATION MANAGERS.—Each organization manager 
of the political organization shall be jointly and sev-
erally liable for any tax imposed under subsection 
(a). 
‘‘(d) ORGANIZATION MANAGER.—For purposes of 
this section, the term ‘organization manager’ means any 
officer, director, or trustee of the political organization (or 
individual having powers or responsibilities similar to 
those of an officer, director, or trustee). 
‘‘(e) POLITICAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘political 
organization’ shall have the meaning given such term by 
section 527(e)(1).’’. 
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(A) The heading for subchapter C of chap-
ter 42 of such Code is amended by adding at 
the end the following: ‘‘; Failure of Polit-
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ical Organizations to Meet Reporting 
Requirements’’. 
(B) The table of sections for such sub-
chapter C is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘Sec. 4956. Tax on failure of political organizations to meet disclosure require-
ments.’’. 
(C) The item in the table of subchapters of 
such chapter 42 relating to subchapter C is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SUBCHAPTER C. POLITICAL EXPENDITURES OF SECTION 501(c)(3) ORGANIZA-
TIONS; FAILURE OF POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS TO MEET REPORTING RE-
QUIREMENTS.’’. 
(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 
by this subsection shall apply to taxable years begin-
ning after December 31, 2007. 
(b) DENIAL OF GIFT TAX EXCLUSION.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Paragraph (4) of section 
2501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (re-
lating to taxable transfers) is amended to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(4) TRANSFERS
TO
POLITICAL
ORGANIZA-
TIONS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) shall 
not apply to the transfer of money or other 
property to a political organization (within the 
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meaning of section 527(e)(1)) for the use of 
such organization. 
‘‘(B) EXCEPTION FOR FAILURE OF ORGA-
NIZATION
TO
MEET
DISCLOSURE
REQUIRE-
MENTS.—Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to 
any transfer in a calendar year for which the 
political organization fails to make the disclo-
sures required by section 527(j).’’. 
(2) NOTICE TO CONTRIBUTORS OF DENIAL OF 
GIFT TAX EXCEPTION FOR FAILURE TO DISCLOSE.— 
Section 527(j) of such Code is amended by adding 
at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(8) NOTICE TO CONTRIBUTORS OF DENIAL OF 
GIFT TAX EXCEPTION FOR FAILURE TO DISCLOSE.— 
In the case of a final determination by the Secretary 
that a failure described in paragraph (1)(A) with re-
spect to an organization occurred, the organization 
shall, not later than 90 days after the date of such 
determination, provide written notice of such failure 
to each contributor to the organization for the cal-
endar year in which such failure occurred. Such no-
tice shall include a statement that the exception 
under section 2501(a)(4)(A) does not apply to any 
contribution to the organization in such calendar 
year.’’. 
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(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 
by this subsection shall apply to transfers made 
after December 31, 2007. 
SEC. 4. SIMULTANEOUS TRANSMISSION OF REPORTS TO 
FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 304 of the Federal Elec-
tion Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434) is amended 
by adding at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(i) 
REPORTS
OF
POLITICAL
ORGANIZATIONS 
UNDER INTERNAL REVENUE CODE OF 1986.— 
‘‘(1) SIMULTANEOUS FILING OF TREASURY RE-
PORTS WITH COMMISSION.—At the time a political 
organization described in section 527 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 files a report with the Sec-
retary of the Treasury under section 527(j) of such 
Code, the organization shall file a copy of the report 
with the Commission. 
‘‘(2) TREATMENT AS REPORT FILED WITH COM-
MISSION.—For purposes of this Act, the copy filed 
under this subsection of a report filed with the Sec-
retary of the Treasury shall be treated as a report 
or statement filed with the Commission under this 
section.’’. 
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(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall take effect January 1, 2008. 
Æ 
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