I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 958
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a credit and 
a deduction for small political contributions. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 17, 2005
Mr. PETRI (for himself, Mr. KANJORSKI, and Mr. RAHALL) 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 provide 
a credit and a deduction for small political contributions.
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 ‘‘Citizen Involvement 
in Campaigns Act of 2005’’. 
SEC. 2. TAX CREDIT FOR CERTAIN POLITICAL CONTRIBU-
TIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart A of part IV of sub-
chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 (relating to nonrefundable personal credits) is
amended by inserting after section 25B the following new 
section: 
‘‘SEC. 25C. CREDIT FOR CERTAIN POLITICAL CONTRIBU-
TIONS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual, 
there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed 
by this chapter for the taxable year an amount equal to 
all qualified political contributions paid by the taxpayer 
during the taxable year. 
‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.—
‘‘(1) MAXIMUM CREDIT.—The credit allowed by 
subsection (a) shall not exceed $200 ($400 in the 
case of a joint return). 
‘‘(2) VERIFICATION.—The credit allowed by 
subsection (a) shall be allowed with respect to any 
qualified political contribution only if such contribu-
tion is verified in such manner as the Secretary shall 
prescribe by regulation. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—
‘‘(1) QUALIFIED POLITICAL CONTRIBUTION.—
The term ‘qualified political contribution’ means a 
contribution or gift of money, or the fair market 
value of a contribution or gift of property, to—
‘‘(A) an individual who is a candidate for 
nomination or election to any Federal elective
public office in any primary, general, or special 
election, for use by such individual to further 
the candidacy of the individual for nomination 
or election to such office, or 
‘‘(B) the national committee of a national 
political party. 
‘‘(2) 
CANDIDATE.—The 
term 
‘candidate’ 
means, with respect to any Federal elective public 
office, an individual who—
‘‘(A) publicly announces before the close of 
the calendar year following the calendar year in 
which the political contribution is made that the 
individual is a candidate for nomination or elec-
tion to such office; and 
‘‘(B) meets the qualifications prescribed by 
law to hold such office. 
‘‘(3) NATIONAL POLITICAL PARTY.—The term 
‘national political party’ means—
‘‘(A) in the case of qualified political con-
tributions made during a taxable year of the 
taxpayer in which the electors of President and 
Vice President are chosen, a political party pre-
senting candidates or electors for such offices 
on the official election ballot of ten or more 
States; or
‘‘(B) in the case of qualified political con-
tributions made during any other taxable year 
of the taxpayer, a political party which met the 
qualifications described in subparagraph (A) in 
the last preceding election of a President and 
Vice President. 
‘‘(d) ELECTION NOT TO HAVE SECTION APPLY.—A 
taxpayer may elect not to have this section apply with re-
spect to qualified political contributions made during the 
taxable year. 
‘‘(e) CROSS REFERENCES.—
‘‘For transfer of appreciated property to a political organization, see section 84. 
‘‘For certain indirect contributions to political parties, see section 276.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions for subpart A of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 
1 of such Code (relating to nonrefundable personal cred-
its) is amended by inserting after the item relating to sec-
tion 25B the following new item:
‘‘Sec. 25C. Credit for certain political contributions.’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
December 31 of the calendar year in which this Act is 
enacted.
SEC. 3. DEDUCTION FOR CERTAIN POLITICAL CONTRIBU-
TIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part VII of subchapter B of chap-
ter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended 
by redesignating section 224 as section 225 and by insert-
ing after section 223 the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 224. POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual, 
there shall be allowed as a deduction for the taxable year 
an amount equal to the qualified political contributions 
made by the taxpayer during the taxable year. 
‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—The amount allowed as a deduc-
tion under subsection (a) for the taxable year shall not 
exceed $600 ($1200 in the case of a joint return). 
‘‘(c) QUALIFIED POLITICAL CONTRIBUTION.—For 
purposes of this section, the term ‘qualified political con-
tribution’ shall have the meaning given such term by sec-
tion 25C(c)(1). 
‘‘(d) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No deduction 
shall be allowed under subsection (a) to a taxpayer for 
any qualified political contribution made during the tax-
able year if a credit is allowed to such taxpayer under sec-
tion 25C for such year.’’. 
(b) DEDUCTION ALLOWED WHETHER OR NOT TAX-
PAYER ITEMIZES OTHER DEDUCTIONS.—Subsection (a)
of section 62 of such Code is amended by inserting before 
the last sentence at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(21) 
QUALIFIED
POLITICAL
CONTRIBU-
TIONS.—The deduction allowed by section 224.’’. 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
for part VII of subchapter B of chapter 1 of such Code 
is amended by redesignating the item relating to section 
224 as an item relating to section 225 and by inserting 
before such item the following new item:
‘‘Sec. 224. Political contributions.’’.
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
December 31 of the calendar year in which this Act is 
enacted.
Æ