nominated, elected, or appointed. Such term includes
the making of expenditures relating to an office de-
scribed in the preceding sentence which, if incurred
by the individual, would be allowable as a deduction
under section 162(a).
‘‘(3) CONTRIBUTIONS.—The term ‘contributions’
has the meaning given to such term by section
271(b)(2).
‘‘(4) EXPENDITURES.—The term ‘expenditures’
has the meaning given to such term by section
271(b)(3).
‘‘(f) SPECIAL RULES.—
‘‘(1) ELECTRONIC FILING.—The Secretary shall
develop procedures for submission in electronic form
of returns and statements required to be filed under
this section.
‘‘(2) PAPERWORK AND BURDEN REDUCTION FOR
ORGANIZATIONS
OTHERWISE
DISCLOSING
INFORMA-
TION.—An organization shall not be required to file
any return or statement under this section for any
period if, with respect to such period, such organiza-
tion submits to the Secretary, under penalty of per-
jury, a certified statement that the organization has
made a filing, which is publicly available, with an-
other Federal agency which includes all of the infor-
mation required to be included in such return or
statement and which specifies the public location
where such information may be found.’’.
(b) PUBLIC INSPECTION OF RETURNS AND STATE-
MENTS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 6104 of such Code (re-
lating to publicity of information required from cer-
tain exempt organizations and certain trusts) is
amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section:
‘‘(e) INSPECTION OF DOCUMENTS RELATING TO POLIT-
ICAL ACTIVITIES OF CERTAIN 501(c) ORGANIZATIONS AND
527 ORGANIZATIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any organiza-
tion required to submit a document under section
6033A—
‘‘(A) a copy of such document shall be made
available by such organization for inspection
during regular business hours by any individual
at the principal office of such organization and,
if such organization regularly maintains 1 or
more regional or district offices having 3 or more
employees, at each such regional or district of-
fice, and
‘‘(B) upon request of an individual made at
such principal office or such a regional or dis-
trict office, a copy of such document shall be pro-
vided to such individual without charge other
than a reasonable fee for any reproduction and
mailing costs.
The request described in subparagraph (B) must be
made in person or in writing. If such request is made
in person, such copy shall be provided immediately
and, if made in writing, shall be provided within 30
days.
‘‘(2) ANNUAL INCOME TAX RETURNS OF 527 OR-
GANIZATIONS.—In the case of an organization re-
quired to file a return under section 6012(a)(6), the
requirements of paragraph (1) shall also apply to
such return.
‘‘(3) TIMELY AVAILABILITY.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in
subparagraph (B), documents required to be
available under this subsection shall be available
no later than 2 business days after being filed.
‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph (A) shall
not apply to—
‘‘(i) any document filed under section
6033A with respect to an annual period,
and
‘‘(ii) any return filed under section
6012(a)(6).
‘‘(4) 3-YEAR LIMITATION ON INSPECTION DOCU-
MENTS.—Paragraphs (1) and (2) shall apply to any
document only during the 3-year period beginning on
the last day prescribed for its filing (determined with
regard to any extension of time for filing).
‘‘(5) LIMITATION ON PROVIDING COPIES.—A rule
similar to the rule of subsection (d)(4) shall apply for
purposes of this subsection.’’.
(2) INSPECTION OF INFORMATION RETURNS AND
INCOME
TAX
RETURNS
OF
POLITICAL
ORGANIZA-
TIONS.—Subsection (b) of section 6104 of such Code
(relating to inspection of annual information returns)
is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(b) INSPECTION OF INFORMATION RETURNS AND IN-
COME TAX RETURNS OF POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The information required to
be furnished by sections 6033, 6033A, 6034, and 6058
(together with the names and addresses of such orga-
nizations and trusts) and returns filed under section
6012(a)(6) shall be made available to the public at
such times and in such places as the Secretary may
prescribe.
‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—
‘‘(A) NONDISCLOSURE OF NAMES AND AD-
DRESSES OF CONTRIBUTORS.—
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—Nothing in this
subsection shall authorize the Secretary to
disclose the name or address of any contrib-
utor to any organization or trust which is
required to furnish such information.
‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—Clause (i) shall not
apply to a private foundation (as defined
in section 509(a)), a 527 organization (as
defined in section 6033A(e)), or information
on a return under section 6033A(a) of an
organization described in paragraph (4),
(5) or (6) of section 501(c).
‘‘(B) RELIGIOUS AND APOSTOLIC ORGANIZA-
TIONS.—In the case of an organization described
in section 501(d), this subsection shall not apply
to copies referred to in section 6031(b) with re-
spect to such organization.
‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULES FOR INFORMATION UNDER
SECTION 6033A.—
‘‘(A) 
TIMELY
AVAILABILITY.—Documents
filed under section 6033A (other than with re-
spect to an annual period) shall be available
under paragraph (1) no later than 2 business
days after being filed.
‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY ON WORLD WIDE WEB.—
To the extent practicable, documents filed under
section 6033A shall also be made available to the
public on the world wide web.
‘‘(4) COOPERATION WITH OTHER FEDERAL AGEN-
CIES.—The Secretary may cooperate with another
Federal agency to carry out the requirements of this
subsection with respect to returns and statements re-
quired to be filed under section 6033A.’’.
(c) PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO FILE DOCUMENTS OR
PROVIDE PUBLIC INSPECTION OF DOCUMENTS.—
(1) 
PENALTY
FOR
FAILURE
TO
REPORT
DISCLOSABLE ACTIVITIES.—Subsection (c) of section
6652 of such Code is amended by redesignating para-
graphs (2), (3), and (4) as paragraphs (3), (4), and
(5), respectively, and by inserting after paragraph (1)
the following new paragraph:
‘‘(2) INFORMATION UNDER SECTION 6033A.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of—
‘‘(i) a failure to file a document re-
quired under section 6033A (relating to re-
turns relating to political activities) at the
time and in the manner prescribed therefor
(determined without regard to any exten-
sion of time for filing), or
‘‘(ii) a failure to include any of the in-
formation required to be shown on such a
return or statement or to show the correct
information,
there shall be paid by the organization an
amount equal to the rate of tax specified in sec-
tion 527(b)(1) multiplied by the amount to
which the failure relates.
‘‘(B) PUBLIC INSPECTION.—In the case of a
failure to comply with the requirements of sec-
tion 6104(e) at the time and in the manner pre-
scribed therefor (determined without regard to
any extension of time for filing), there shall be
paid by the person failing to meet such require-
ments $20 for each day during which such fail-
ure continues. The maximum penalty imposed
under this subparagraph on all persons for fail-
ures with respect to any 1 statement shall not ex-
ceed $10,000.
‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL PENALTY ON MANAGERS
OF 527 ORGANIZATIONS.—
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may
make a written demand on any 527 organi-
zation subject to penalty under subpara-
graph (A) specifying therein a reasonable
future date by which the return or state-
ment shall be filed (or the information fur-
nished) for purposes of this subparagraph.
‘‘(ii) FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH DE-
MAND.—If any person fails to comply with
any demand under clause (i) on or before
the date specified in such demand, there
shall be paid by the person failing to so
comply $10 for each day after the expira-
tion of the time specified in such demand
during which such failure continues. The
maximum penalty imposed under this sub-
paragraph on all persons for failures with
respect to any 1 statement shall not exceed
$5,000.’’.
(2) OTHER PENALTIES.—
(A) Section 6685 of such Code (relating to
assessable penalty with respect to public inspec-
tion requirements for certain tax-exempt organi-
zations) is amended—
(i) by striking ‘‘subsection (d)’’ and in-
serting ‘‘subsection (d) or (e)’’, and
(ii) by striking ‘‘return or applica-
tion’’ each place it appears and inserting
‘‘return, application, or statement’’.
(B) Section 7207 of such Code (relating to
fraudulent returns, statements, and other docu-
ments) is amended by striking ‘‘subsection (d)’’
and inserting ‘‘subsection (d) or (e)’’.
(d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
(1) Section 527 of such Code is amended by add-
ing at the end the following new subsection:
‘‘(i) CROSS REFERENCES.—
‘‘(1) For reporting and inspection requirements, see
sections 6033A and 6104.
‘‘(2) For penalties for failure to file returns and
statements, see sections 6652, 6685, and 7207.’’.
(2) The table of sections for subpart A of part III
of subchapter A of chapter 61 of such Code is amend-
ed by inserting after the item relating to section 6033
the following new item:
‘‘Sec. 6033A. Returns relating to political activities.’’.
(e) EFFECTIVE DATES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the amendments made by this section shall
apply to——
(A) expenditures made and contributions
received with respect to disclosable activities in
reporting periods beginning after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and
(B) expenditures made and contributions
received in annual reporting periods ending
after the date of the enactment of this Act, except
that only expenditures and contributions de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) shall be taken into
account.
(2) STATEMENT OF ORGANIZATION.—Paragraph
(1) of section 6033A(c) of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986 (as added by this section) shall take effect on
the date of the enactment of this Act.
Union Calendar No. 395
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4717
[Report No. 106–702]
A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to
require 527 organizations and certain other tax-
exempt organizations to disclose their political
activities.
JUNE 27, 2000
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union,
and ordered to be printed