26 U.S.C. § 7409 — Action to enjoin flagrant political expend-

Page 3875 TITLE 26—INTERNAL REVENUE CODE § 7409 an Effective Date of 1976 Amendment note under sec- tion 7701 of this title. § 7408. Actions to enjoin specified conduct re- lated to tax shelters and reportable trans- actions (a) Authority to seek injunction A civil action in the name of the United States to enjoin any person from further engag- ing in specified conduct may be commenced at the request of the Secretary. Any action under this section shall be brought in the district court of the United States for the district in which such person resides, has his principal place of business, or has engaged in specified conduct. The court may exercise its jurisdiction over such action (as provided in section 7402(a)) separate and apart from any other action brought by the United States against such per- son. (b) Adjudication and decree In any action under subsection (a), if the court finds— (1) that the person has engaged in any speci- fied conduct, and (2) that injunctive relief is appropriate to prevent recurrence of such conduct, the court may enjoin such person from engaging in such conduct or in any other activity subject to penalty under this title. (c) Specified conduct For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘speci- fied conduct’’ means any action, or failure to take action, which is— (1) subject to penalty under section 6700, 6701, 6707, or 6708, or (2) in violation of any requirement under regulations issued under section 330 of title 31, United States Code. (d) Citizens and residents outside the United States If any citizen or resident of the United States does not reside in, and does not have his prin- cipal place of business in, any United States ju- dicial district, such citizen or resident shall be treated for purposes of this section as residing in the District of Columbia. (Added Pub. L. 97–248, title III, § 321(a), Sept. 3, 1982, 96 Stat. 612; amended Pub. L. 98–369, div. A, title I, § 143(b), July 18, 1984, 98 Stat. 682; Pub. L. 108–357, title VIII, § 820(a), (b)(1), Oct. 22, 2004, 118 Stat. 1585.) Editorial Notes PRIOR PROVISIONS A prior section 7408 was renumbered section 7410 of this title. AMENDMENTS 2004—Pub. L. 108–357, § 820(b)(1), amended section catchline generally, substituting ‘‘Actions to enjoin specified conduct related to tax shelters and reportable transactions’’ for ‘‘Action to enjoin promoters of abu- sive tax shelters, etc.’’ Subsecs. (a) to (d). Pub. L. 108–357, § 820(a), added sub- secs. (a) to (c), redesignated former subsec. (c) as (d), and struck out former subsecs. (a) and (b), which au- thorized a civil action to enjoin any person from fur- ther engaging in conduct subject to penalty under sec- tion 6700 or 6701 of this title and authorized the court, if it found that the person had engaged in such conduct and that injunctive relief was appropriate, to enjoin such person from engaging in such conduct or in any other activity subject to penalty under section 6700 or 6701. 1984—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 98–369, § 143(b)(1), (2), in- serted ‘‘or section 6701 (relating to penalties for aiding and abetting understatement of tax liability)’’ and in- serted reference to section 6701 at end of second sen- tence. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 98–369, § 143(b)(1), (3), inserted ‘‘or section 6701 (relating to penalties for aiding and abet- ting understatement of tax liability),’’ in par. (1) and inserted reference to section 6701 at end. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2004 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 108–357, title VIII, § 820(c), Oct. 22, 2004, 118 Stat. 1585, provided that: ‘‘The amendment made by this section [amending this section] shall take effect on the day after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 22, 2004].’’ EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1984 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 98–369 effective on day after July 18, 1984, see section 143(c) of Pub. L. 98–369, set out as a note under section 6700 of this title. EFFECTIVE DATE Pub. L. 97–248, title III, § 321(c), Sept. 3, 1982, 96 Stat. 612, provided that: ‘‘The amendments made by this sec- tion [enacting this section] shall take effect on the day after the date of the enactment of this Act [Sept. 3, 1982].’’ § 7409. Action to enjoin flagrant political expend- itures of section 501(c)(3) organizations (a) Authority to seek injunction (1) In general If the requirements of paragraph (2) are met, a civil action in the name of the United States may be commenced at the request of the Sec- retary to enjoin any section 501(c)(3) organiza- tion from further making political expendi- tures and for such other relief as may be ap- propriate to ensure that the assets of such or- ganization are preserved for charitable or other purposes specified in section 501(c)(3). Any action under this section shall be brought in the district court of the United States for the district in which such organization has its principal place of business or for any district in which it has made political expenditures. The court may exercise its jurisdiction over such action (as provided in section 7402(a)) sep- arate and apart from any other action brought by the United States against such organiza- tion. (2) Requirements An action may be brought under subsection (a) only if— (A) the Internal Revenue Service has noti- fied the organization of its intention to seek an injunction under this section if the mak- ing of political expenditures does not imme- diately cease, and (B) the Commissioner of Internal Revenue has personally determined that— (i) such organization has flagrantly par- ticipated in, or intervened in (including Page 3876 TITLE 26—INTERNAL REVENUE CODE § 7410 the publication or distribution of state- ments), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office, and (ii) injunctive relief is appropriate to prevent future political expenditures. (b) Adjudication and decree In any action under subsection (a), if the court finds on the basis of clear and convincing evi- dence that— (1) such organization has flagrantly partici- pated in, or intervened in (including the publi- cation or distribution of statements), any po- litical campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office, and (2) injunctive relief is appropriate to prevent future political expenditures, the court may enjoin such organization from making political expenditures and may grant such other relief as may be appropriate to en- sure that the assets of such organization are preserved for charitable or other purposes speci- fied in section 501(c)(3). (c) Definitions For purposes of this section, the terms ‘‘sec- tion 501(c)(3) organization’’ and ‘‘political ex- penditures’’ have the respective meanings given to such terms by section 4955. (Added Pub. L. 100–203, title X, § 10713(a)(1), Dec. 22, 1987, 101 Stat. 1330–468.) Editorial Notes PRIOR PROVISIONS A prior section 7409 was renumbered section 7410 of this title. § 7410. Cross references (1) For provisions for collecting taxes in general, see chapter 64. (2) For venue in a civil action for the collection of any tax, see section 1396 of Title 28 of the United States Code. (3) For venue of a proceeding for the recovery of any fine, penalty, or forfeiture, see section 1395 of Title 28 of the United States Code. (Aug. 16, 1954, ch. 736, 68A Stat. 875, § 7407; re- numbered § 7408, Pub. L. 94–455, title XII, § 1203(g), Oct. 4, 1976, 90 Stat. 1693; renumbered § 7409, Pub. L. 97–248, title III, § 321(a), Sept. 3, 1982, 96 Stat. 612; renumbered § 7410, Pub. L. 100–203, title X, § 10713(a)(1), Dec. 22, 1987, 101 Stat. 1330–468.) Subchapter B—Proceedings by Taxpayers and Third Parties Sec. 7421. Prohibition of suits to restrain assessment or collection. 7422. Civil actions for refund. 7423. Repayments to officers or employees. 7424. Intervention. 7425. Discharge of liens. 7426. Civil actions by persons other than taxpayers. 7427. Tax return preparers. 7428. Declaratory judgments relating to status and classification of organizations under sec- tion 501(c)(3), etc. 7429. Review of jeopardy levy or assessment proce- dures. Sec. 7430. Awarding of costs and certain fees. 7431. Civil damages for unauthorized inspection or disclosure of returns and return informa- tion. 7432. Civil damages for failure to release lien. 7433. Civil damages for certain unauthorized col- lection actions. 7433A. Civil damages for certain unauthorized col- lection actions by persons performing serv- ices under qualified tax collection con- tracts. 7434. Civil damages for fraudulent filing of infor- mation returns. 7435. Civil damages for unauthorized enticement of information disclosure. 7436. Proceedings for determination of employment status. 7437. Cross references. Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2007—Pub. L. 110–28, title VIII, § 8246(a)(2)(J)(ii), May 25, 2007, 121 Stat. 202, substituted ‘‘Tax return pre- parers’’ for ‘‘Income tax return preparers’’ in item 7427. 2004—Pub. L. 108–357, title VIII, § 881(b)(2), Oct. 22, 2004, 118 Stat. 1626, added item 7433A. 1997—Pub. L. 105–35, § 3(d)(5), Aug. 5, 1997, 111 Stat. 1106, inserted ‘‘inspection or’’ before ‘‘disclosure’’ in item 7431. Pub. L. 105–34, title XIV, § 1454(b)(4), Aug. 5, 1997, 111 Stat. 1057, added items 7436 and 7437 and struck out former item 7436 ‘‘Cross references’’. 1996—Pub. L. 104–168, title VI, § 601(b), title XII, § 1203(b), July 30, 1996, 110 Stat. 1462, 1471, added items 7434 and 7435 and redesignated former item 7434 as 7436. 1988—Pub. L. 100–647, title VI, §§ 6237(e)(4), 6239(c), 6240(b), 6241(c), Nov. 10, 1988, 102 Stat. 3743, 3746–3748, in- serted ‘‘levy or’’ after ‘‘jeopardy’’ in item 7429, struck out ‘‘court’’ after ‘‘Awarding of’’ in item 7430, added items 7432 and 7433, and redesignated former item 7432 as 7434. 1982—Pub. L. 97–248, title II, § 292(d)(1), title III, § 357(b)(3), Sept. 3, 1982, 96 Stat. 574, 646, added items 7430 and 7431 and redesignated former item 7430 as 7432. 1976—Pub. L. 94–455, title XII, §§ 1203(b)(2)(B), 1204(c)(13), title XIII, § 1306(b)(6), Oct. 4, 1976, 90 Stat. 1690, 1699, 1719, added items 7427 to 7429 and redesig- nated former item 7427 as 7430. 1966—Pub. L. 89–719, title I, § 110(d)(1), (2), Nov. 2, 1966, 80 Stat. 1145, inserted ‘‘and Third Parties’’ in sub- chapter heading, substituted ‘‘Intervention’’ for ‘‘Civil action to clear title to property’’ in item 7424, added items 7425 and 7426, and redesignated former item 7425 as 7427. § 7421. Prohibition of suits to restrain assessment or collection (a) Tax Except as provided in sections 6015(e), 6212(a) and (c), 6213(a), 6232(c), 6330(e)(1), 6331(i), 6672(c), 6694(c), 7426(a) and (b)(1), 7429(b), and 7436, no suit for the purpose of restraining the assess- ment or collection of any tax shall be main- tained in any court by any person, whether or not such person is the person against whom such tax was assessed. (b) Liability of transferee or fiduciary No suit shall be maintained in any court for the purpose of restraining the assessment or col- lection (pursuant to the provisions of chapter 71) of— (1) the amount of the liability, at law or in equity, of a transferee of property of a tax- payer in respect of any internal revenue tax, or