Instructions: In this task, you are given text for US Congressional and California state bills, your task is to generate a summary for this bill.
Input: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE, ETC.

(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ''Charity
Enhancement Act of 2008''.
(b) Amendment of 1986 Code.--Except as otherwise expressly
provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in
terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provision,
the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or other
provision of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(c) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title, etc.
Sec. 2. Funds advised by certain public charities and governmental
entities not treated as donor advised
funds.
Sec. 3. Certain scholarship distributions from donor advised funds not
treated as taxable distributions.
Sec. 4. Repeal of special written acknowledgment requirement for
charitable contributions to donor advised
funds.
Sec. 5. Reasonable compensation paid by supporting organizations to
substantial contributors not treated as an
excess benefit.
Sec. 6. Exception from holdings and payout requirements for
longstanding, fully funded type III
supporting organizations.
Sec. 7. Contributions by Indian tribal governments treated same as
contributions by States.
Sec. 8. Electronic filing of exempt organization annual returns.
Sec. 9. Expansion of bad check penalty to electronic payments, etc.

SEC. 2. FUNDS ADVISED BY CERTAIN PUBLIC CHARITIES AND GOVERNMENTAL
ENTITIES NOT TREATED AS DONOR ADVISED FUNDS.

(a) In General.--Subparagraph (B) of section 4966(d)(2) is amended
by striking ''or'' at the end of clause (i), by striking the period at
the end of clause (ii) and inserting '', or'', and by adding at the end
the following new clause:
''(iii) if all contributions to such fund
or account have been made, and all advisory
privileges referred to in subparagraph (A)(iii)
with respect to such fund or account have been
exercised, by either--
''(I) one or more organizations
described in clause (i), (ii), (iii),
(iv), or (vi) of section 170(b)(1)(A)
or section 509(a)(2), or
''(II) one or more entities
described in section 170(c)(1).''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply to taxable years ending after the date of the enactment of this
Act.

SEC. 3. CERTAIN SCHOLARSHIP DISTRIBUTIONS FROM DONOR ADVISED FUNDS NOT
TREATED AS TAXABLE DISTRIBUTIONS.

(a) In General.--Subsection (c) of section 4966 is amended by
adding at the end the following new paragraph:
''(3) Exception for certain scholarship distributions.--
''(A) In general.--The term 'taxable distribution'
shall not include any qualified scholarship
distribution from a qualified scholarship fund.
''(B) Qualified scholarship distribution.--The term
'qualified scholarship distribution' means any grant to
a natural person for travel, study, or other similar
purposes made from a donor advised fund if all such
grants meet the requirements of subsection
(d)(2)(B)(ii)(III).
''(C) Qualified scholarship fund.--The term
'qualified scholarship fund' means any donor advised
fund if--
''(i) the advisory privileges referred to
in subsection (d)(2)(A)(iii) with respect to
such fund are exercised solely by an
organization described in paragraph (4) of
section 501(c) and exempt from tax under
section 501(a), and
''(ii) substantially all of the
distributions from such fund are qualified
scholarship distributions.''.
(b) Application of Tax on Prohibited Benefits to Qualified
Scholarship Distributions.--Subsection (c) of section 4967 is amended
by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
''(3) Qualified scholarship funds.--Each substantial
contributor (as defined in section 4958(c)(3)(C)) to a
qualified scholarship fund and each family member (within the
meaning of section 4958(f)(4)) of such person shall be treated
as a person described in subsection (d) with respect to such
fund.''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply to distributions made after the date of the enactment of this
Act.

SEC. 4. REPEAL OF SPECIAL WRITTEN ACKNOWLEDGMENT REQUIREMENT FOR
CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS TO DONOR ADVISED FUNDS.

(a) In General.--Paragraph (18) of section 170(f) is amended--
(1) by striking subparagraph (B),
(2) by striking ''if--'' and all that follows through ''the
sponsoring organization (as defined in section 4966(d)(1))''
and inserting ''if the sponsoring organization (as defined in
section 4966(d)(1)))'', and
(3) by redesignating clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph
(A) (as in effect before amendment by paragraph (2)) as
subparagraphs (A) and (B) and by moving such subparagraphs 2
ems to the left.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply to taxable years ending after the date of the enactment of this
Act.

SEC. 5. REASONABLE COMPENSATION PAID BY SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS TO
SUBSTANTIAL CONTRIBUTORS NOT TREATED AS AN EXCESS
BENEFIT.

(a) In General.--Clause (ii) of section 4958(c)(3)(A) is amended to
read as follows:
''(ii) the term 'excess benefit' includes,
with respect to any transaction described in
clause (i)--
''(I) in the case of any grant,
loan, or similar payment, the amount of
such grant, loan, or similar payment,
and
''(II) in the case of any
compensation or similar payment, the
amount by which the value of the
economic benefit provided exceeds the
value of the consideration (including
the performance of services) received
for providing such benefit.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall apply
to amounts paid pursuant to transactions entered into after the date of
the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 6. EXCEPTION FROM HOLDINGS AND PAYOUT REQUIREMENTS FOR
LONGSTANDING, FULLY FUNDED TYPE III SUPPORTING
ORGANIZATIONS.

(a) Holdings Requirements.--Subsection (f) of section 4943 is
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
''(8) Exception for certain longstanding fully funded type
iii supporting organizations.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to
any organization if--
''(A) the organization was established before
January 1, 1970,
''(B) the organization has not accepted any
substantial contributions after December 31, 1970,
''(C) no donor to the organization was alive on
August 17, 2006, and
''(D) no family member (within the meaning of
section 4958(f)(4)) of any donor is an organization
manager (as defined in section 4958(f)(2)).''.
(b) Payout Requirements.--Section 1241(d)(1) of the Pension
Protection Act of 2006 shall not apply to any organization described in
section 4943(f)(8) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as added by
this section.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply to taxable years ending after the date of the enactment of this
Act.

SEC. 7. CONTRIBUTIONS BY INDIAN TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS TREATED SAME AS
CONTRIBUTIONS BY STATES.

(a) In General.--Section 7871(a) (relating to Indian tribal
governments treated as States for certain purposes) is amended by
striking ''and'' at the end of paragraph (6), by striking the period at
the end of paragraph (7) and inserting ''; and'', and by adding at the
end the following new paragraph:
''(8) for purposes of--
''(A) determining support of an organization
described in section 170(b)(1)(A)(vi), and
''(B) determining whether an organization is
described in paragraph (1) or (2) of section 509(a) for
purposes of section 509(a)(3).''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply with respect to--
(1) support received on or after the date of the enactment
of this Act, and
(2) the determination of the status of any organization
with respect to any taxable year beginning after such date of
enactment.

SEC. 8. ELECTRONIC FILING OF EXEMPT ORGANIZATION ANNUAL RETURNS.

(a) In General.--Subsection (d) of section 6104 (relating to public
inspection of certain annual returns, reports, applications for
exemption, and notices of status) is amended--
(1) by redesignating the paragraph relating to disclosure
of reports by Internal Revenue Service as paragraph (7),
(2) by redesignating the paragraph relating to application
to nonexempt charitable trusts and nonexempt private
foundations as paragraph (8), and
(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
''(9) Returns required on magnetic media, etc.--Any
organization (other than an organization exempt from tax under
section 527(a)) which--
''(A) is required to make available information for
inspection under paragraph (1)(A), and
''(B) would be required to file returns on magnetic
media or in other machine-readable form under
subsection (e) of section 6011 if such subsection were
applied by substituting 'at least 5 returns' for 'at
least 250 returns' in paragraph (2)(A) thereof,
shall file the information referred to in clauses (i) and (ii)
of paragraph (1)(A) on such magnetic media or in other machine-
readable form.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall
apply to returns required to be filed for taxable years beginning after
the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 9. EXPANSION OF BAD CHECK PENALTY TO ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS, ETC.

(a) In General.--Section 6657 (relating to bad checks) is amended
by adding at the end the following: ''Except as otherwise provided by
the Secretary, any authorization of a payment by commercially
acceptable means (within the meaning of section 6311) shall be treated
for purposes of this section in the same manner as a check.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall
apply to authorizations of payments made after December 31, 2005.

Passed the House of Representatives September 27, 2008.

Attest:

LORRAINE C. MILLER,

Clerk.
Output:
Charity Enhancement Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to modify rules and definitions relating to the excise tax on distributions from donor advised funds (charitable funds in which a donor has, or reasonably expects to have, advisory privileges with respect to the distribution or investment of amounts held in such funds by reason of his or her status as a donor).

Excludes from the definition of "donor advised fund" charitable funds that receive contributions or are advised solely by one or more public charities or governmental entities.

Exempts certain scholarship distributions from the tax on distributions from donor advised funds.

Repeals the requirement of a written acknowledgment by a supporting organization (a charitable organization that maintains one or more donor advised funds) that it has exclusive legal control over assets contributed to it.

Exempts certain compensation and benefits paid to substantial contributors by supporting organizations from treatment as excess benefits.

Exempts certain supporting organizations established before January 1, 1970, from applicable holdings and payout requirements.

Treats contributions to tax-exempt organizations by Indian tribal governments in the same manner as contributions by states for purposes of determining the classification of an organization as a public charity or private foundation.

Requires certain tax-exempt organizations that file at least five tax returns annually with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to use electronic filing.

Extends the bad check penalty to payments of tax by commercially acceptable means (e.g., electronic payments).