I 
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 Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthening Char-
ities Through Transparency Act of 2016’’. 
SEC. 2. MANDATORY ELECTRONIC FILING FOR ANNUAL RE-
TURNS OF EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6033 of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 is amended by redesignating subsection 
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(n) as subsection (o) and by inserting after subsection (m) 
the following new subsection: 
‘‘(n) MANDATORY ELECTRONIC FILING.—Any orga-
nization 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 elec-
tronically 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 CON-
VICTED OF FRAUD. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Upon request by the Attorney 
General, a State shall make available information regard-
ing a charity or a charity management official that has 
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been convicted of a fraud, theft, or a financial offense. Be-
ginning not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Attorney General shall establish a data-
base that lists each such charity or charity management 
official. Information received under this subsection shall 
be made available to State Attorneys General for regu-
latory 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, Amer-
ican Samoa, and any other territory or possession of 
the United States. 
Æ 
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