I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 668
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow credits against income 
tax for an owner of a radio broadcasting station which donates the 
license and other assets of such station to a nonprofit corporation for 
purposes of supporting nonprofit fine arts and performing arts organiza-
tions, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 11, 2003
Mr. ANDREWS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow credits 
against income tax for an owner of a radio broadcasting 
station which donates the license and other assets of 
such station to a nonprofit corporation for purposes of 
supporting nonprofit fine arts and performing arts orga-
nizations, and for other purposes.
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 ‘‘Cultural Radio Tax 
Credit Act of 2003’’.
SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR DONATION OF LICENSE AND OTHER 
ASSETS OF COMMERCIAL RADIO BROAD-
CASTING STATIONS TO NONPROFIT COR-
PORATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub-
chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 (relating to general business credits) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 45G. CREDIT FOR DONATION OF LICENSE AND 
OTHER 
ASSETS 
OF 
COMMERCIAL 
RADIO 
BROADCASTING STATION TO CERTAIN NON-
PROFIT CORPORATIONS. 
‘‘(a) RADIO BROADCASTING STATION DONATION 
CREDIT.—For purposes of section 38, the radio broad-
casting station donation credit is an amount equal to the 
sum of—
‘‘(1) 125 percent of the fair market value of a 
radio broadcasting commercial license which is do-
nated to a qualified recipient, 
‘‘(2) 100 percent of the fair market value of 
any radio broadcasting station assets, including 
equipment and other real property owned by the sta-
tion, which are donated to the same qualified recipi-
ent, and
‘‘(3) the total amount deposited into an oper-
ations escrow fund established by the donor of the 
license and assets during the taxable year. 
‘‘(b) QUALIFIED RECIPIENT.—For purposes of this 
section, a qualified recipient is an entity which—
‘‘(1) is a corporation described in section 
501(c)(3) which is exempt from taxation under sec-
tion 501(a), 
‘‘(2) agrees to operate the radio broadcasting 
station being donated to it as a for-profit venture, 
with profits dedicated to the support of non-profit 
fine arts and performing arts organizations in its 
service area, 
‘‘(3) has at least 3 arts organizations from its 
service area on its board of trustees, or on a board 
of trustees of a subsidiary established to oversee op-
eration of the radio broadcasting station, 
‘‘(4) agrees that, in the event that it ceases op-
eration of the radio broadcasting station—
‘‘(A) it will not sell the station to a for-
profit broadcaster under any circumstances, 
and 
‘‘(B) it will either—
‘‘(i) transfer the license to another 
corporation described in section 501(c)(3)
which is exempt from taxation under sec-
tion 501(a) and which agrees to continue 
operation of the station for the support of 
nonprofit fine arts and performing arts or-
ganizations in its service area, or 
‘‘(ii) surrender the license to the Fed-
eral Communications Commission. 
‘‘(c) OPERATIONS ESCROW FUND.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, an operations escrow fund is a fund established 
by a taxpayer who has donated a radio broadcasting 
commercial license or radio broadcasting station as-
sets to a qualified recipient for the purpose of cov-
ering operating expenses during the recipient’s first 
year of operation of the radio broadcasting station 
if the station’s revenues are not adequate to cover 
such expenses. An operations escrow fund may be 
established only if the qualified recipient is not able 
to meet the financial responsibility requirement of 
the Federal Communications Commission. 
‘‘(2) RECAPTURE OF CREDIT FOR AMOUNTS RE-
MAINING IN ESCROW FUND.—In any case in which 
there is an amount remaining in an operations es-
crow fund after the first year of operation of the 
radio broadcasting station for which the fund was
established, such amount (not including any interest 
that accrued on the amount in the fund) shall be 
added to the tax imposed by this chapter on the tax-
payer for the taxpayer’s taxable year which includes 
the end of such first year of operation. 
‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULES IN CASE OF SURRENDER OF LI-
CENSE TO FCC.—If a qualified recipient surrenders its 
donated radio broadcasting license to the Federal Commu-
nications Commission, the Commission shall notify the 
donor of the license that the donor may, within 6 months 
after such notification, post a bond equal to the amount 
of the tax credit under subsection (a) that it received for 
donating the station, plus interest. After such a bond is 
posted, the donor may apply for the license. If the Com-
mission approves the donor’s application for the license, 
the bond shall be used in lieu of an auction fee. If the 
donor does not exercise its option within such six months, 
or waives its option earlier, the license shall be auctioned 
in the same manner as a new license. 
‘‘(e) ELECTION.—This section shall apply to any tax-
payer for any taxable year only if such taxpayer elects (at 
such time and in such manner as the Secretary may by 
regulations prescribe) to have this section apply for such 
taxable year.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
December 31, 2003.
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