26 U.S.C. § 9002 — Definitions

Page 4093 TITLE 26—INTERNAL REVENUE CODE § 9002 ‘‘(b) Guidelines adopted in accordance with this sec- tion shall state expressly that they are intended to comply with this section.’’ ADOPTION OF GUIDELINES: COMPLIANCE; EFFECTIVE DATE OF SECTION 6096 AND AMENDMENT OF SECTION 6096(a) Pub. L. 92–178, title VIII, § 802(b)(2), Dec. 10, 1971, 85 Stat. 573, as amended by Pub. L. 99–514, § 2, Oct. 22, 1986, 100 Stat. 2095, provided that: ‘‘The enactment of Sub- title H of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 [formerly I.R.C. 1954] by section 801 of this Act [this subtitle] is intended to comply with the provisions of section 5 (re- lating to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund Act of 1966) of the Act entitled ‘An Act to restore the in- vestment credit and allowance of accelerated deprecia- tion in the case of certain real property’, approved June 13, 1967 (Public Law 90–26, 81 Stat. 58) [set out above]. The provisions of section 6096 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 together with the amendments of such section made by subsection (a), shall be applicable only to taxable years ending on or after December 31, 1972.’’ § 9002. Definitions For purposes of this chapter— (1) The term ‘‘authorized committee’’ means, with respect to the candidates of a po- litical party for President and Vice President of the United States, any political committee which is authorized in writing by such can- didates to incur expenses to further the elec- tion of such candidates. Such authorization shall be addressed to the chairman of such po- litical committee, and a copy of such author- ization shall be filed by such candidates with the Commission. Any withdrawal of any au- thorization shall also be in writing and shall be addressed and filed in the same manner as the authorization. (2) The term ‘‘candidate’’ means, with re- spect to any presidential election, an indi- vidual who (A) has been nominated for elec- tion to the office of President of the United States or the office of Vice President of the United States by a major party, or (B) has qualified to have his name on the election bal- lot (or to have the names of electors pledged to him on the election ballot) as the candidate of a political party for election to either such office in 10 or more States. For purposes of paragraphs (6) and (7) of this section and pur- poses of section 9004(a)(2), the term ‘‘can- didate’’ means, with respect to any preceding presidential election, an individual who re- ceived popular votes for the office of President in such election. The term ‘‘candidate’’ shall not include any individual who has ceased ac- tively to seek election to the office of Presi- dent of the United States or to the office of Vice President of the United States, in more than one State. (3) The term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Fed- eral Election Commission established by sec- tion 306(a)(1) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. (4) The term ‘‘eligible candidates’’ means the candidates of a political party for President and Vice President of the United States who have met all applicable conditions for eligi- bility to receive payments under this chapter set forth in section 9003. (5) The term ‘‘fund’’ means the Presidential Election Campaign Fund established by sec- tion 9006(a). (6) The term ‘‘major party’’ means, with re- spect to any presidential election, a political party whose candidate for the office of Presi- dent in the preceding presidential election re- ceived, as the candidate of such party, 25 per- cent or more of the total number of popular votes received by all candidates for such of- fice. (7) The term ‘‘minor party’’ means, with re- spect to any presidential election, a political party whose candidate for the office of Presi- dent in the preceding presidential election re- ceived, as the candidate of such party, 5 per- cent or more but less than 25 percent of the total number of popular votes received by all candidates for such office. (8) The term ‘‘new party’’ means, with re- spect to any presidential election, a political party which is neither a major party nor a minor party. (9) The term ‘‘political committee’’ means any committee, association, or organization (whether or not incorporated) which accepts contributions or makes expenditures for the purpose of influencing, or attempting to influ- ence, the nomination or election of one or more individuals to Federal, State, or local elective public office. (10) The term ‘‘presidential election’’ means the election of presidential and vice-presi- dential electors. (11) The term ‘‘qualified campaign expense’’ means an expense— (A) incurred (i) by the candidate of a polit- ical party for the office of President to fur- ther his election to such office or to further the election of the candidate of such polit- ical party for the office of Vice President, or both (ii) by the candidate of a political party for the office of Vice President to further his election to such office or to further the elec- tion of the candidate of such political party for the office of President, or both, or (iii) by an authorized committee of the candidates of a political party for the offices of Presi- dent and Vice President to further the elec- tion of either or both of such candidates to such offices, (B) incurred within the expenditure report period (as defined in paragraph (12)), or in- curred before the beginning of such period to the extent such expense is for property, serv- ices, or facilities used during such period, and (C) neither the incurring nor payment of which constitutes a violation of any law of the United States or of the State in which such expense is incurred or paid. An expense shall be considered as incurred by a candidate or an authorized committee if it is incurred by a person authorized by such can- didate or such committee, as the case may be, to incur such expense on behalf of such can- didate or such committee. If an authorized committee of the candidates of a political party for President and Vice President of the United States also incurs expenses to further the election of one or more other individuals Page 4094 TITLE 26—INTERNAL REVENUE CODE § 9003 to Federal, State, or local elective public of- fice, expenses incurred by such committee which are not specifically to further the elec- tion of such other individual or individuals shall be considered as incurred to further the election of such candidates for President and Vice President in such proportion as the Com- mission prescribes by rules or regulations. (12) The term ‘‘expenditure report period’’ with respect to any presidential election means— (A) in the case of a major party, the period beginning with the first day of September before the election, or, if earlier, with the date on which such major party at its na- tional convention nominated its candidate for election to the office of President of the United States, and ending 30 days after the date of the presidential election; and (B) in the case of a party which is not a major party, the same period as the expendi- ture report period of the major party which has the shortest expenditure report period for such presidential election under subpara- graph (A). (Added Pub. L. 92–178, title VIII, § 801, Dec. 10, 1971, 85 Stat. 563; amended Pub. L. 93–443, title IV, § 404(c)(1)–(3), Oct. 15, 1974, 88 Stat. 1292; Pub. L. 94–283, title I, § 115(c)(1), title III, § 306(a)(1), May 11, 1976, 90 Stat. 495, 499; Pub. L. 110–172, § 11(a)(42)(A), Dec. 29, 2007, 121 Stat. 2488.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Section 306(a)(1) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, referred to in par. (3), is classified to sec- tion 30106(a)(1) of Title 52, Voting and Elections. AMENDMENTS 2007—Par. (3). Pub. L. 110–172 substituted ‘‘section 306(a)(1)’’ for ‘‘section 309(a)(1)’’. 1976—Par. (2). Pub. L. 94–283, § 306(a)(1), inserted provi- sion that ‘‘candidate’’ shall not include any individual who has ceased actively to seek election to the office of President of the United States or to the office of Vice President of the United States, in more than one State. Par. (3). Pub. L. 94–283, § 115(c)(1), substituted ‘‘309(a)(1)’’ for ‘‘310(a)(1)’’. 1974—Par. (1). Pub. L. 93–443, § 404(c)(2), substituted ‘‘Commission’’ for ‘‘Comptroller General’’. Par. (3). Pub. L. 93–443, § 404(c)(1), substituted defini- tion of ‘‘Commission’’ for ‘‘Comptroller General’’. Par. (11). Pub. L. 93–443, § 404(c)(3), substituted ‘‘Com- mission’’ for ‘‘Comptroller General’’ in third sentence. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1976 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 94–283, title III, § 306(c), May 11, 1976, 90 Stat. 501, provided that: ‘‘The amendments made by this sec- tion [amending this section and sections 9003, 9032, and 9033 of this title] shall take effect on the date of enact- ment of this Act [May 11, 1976].’’ EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1974 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 93–443 applicable with respect to taxable years beginning after Dec. 31, 1974, see sec- tion 410(c)(1) of Pub. L. 93–443, set out as a note under section 30101 of Title 52, Voting and Elections. § 9003. Condition for eligibility for payments (a) In general In order to be eligible to receive any payments under section 9006, the candidates of a political party in a presidential election shall, in writ- ing— (1) agree to obtain and furnish to the Com- mission such evidence as it may request of the qualified campaign expenses of such can- didates, (2) agree to keep and furnish to the Commis- sion such records, books, and other informa- tion as it may request, and (3) agree to an audit and examination by the Commission under section 9007 and to pay any amounts required to be paid under such sec- tion. (b) Major parties In order to be eligible to receive any payments under section 9006, the candidates of a major party in a presidential election shall certify to the Commission, under penalty of perjury, that— (1) such candidates and their authorized committees will not incur qualified campaign expenses in excess of the aggregate payments to which they will be entitled under section 9004, and (2) no contributions to defray qualified cam- paign expenses have been or will be accepted by such candidates or any of their authorized committees except to the extent necessary to make up any deficiency in payments received out of the fund on account of the application of section 9006(c), and no contributions to de- fray expenses which would be qualified cam- paign expenses but for subparagraph (C) of sec- tion 9002(11) have been or will be accepted by such candidates or any of their authorized committees. Such certification shall be made within such time prior to the day of the presidential election as the Commission shall prescribe by rules or regulations. (c) Minor and new parties In order to be eligible to receive any payments under section 9006, the candidates of a minor or new party in a presidential election shall certify to the Commission, under penalty of perjury, that— (1) such candidates and their authorized committees will not incur qualified campaign expenses in excess of the aggregate payments to which the eligible candidates of a major party are entitled under section 9004, and (2) such candidates and their authorized committees will accept and expend or retain contributions to defray qualified campaign ex- penses only to the extent that the qualified campaign expenses incurred by such can- didates and their authorized committees cer- tified to under paragraph (1) exceed the aggre- gate payments received by such candidates out of the fund pursuant to section 9006. Such certification shall be made within such time prior to the day of the presidential election as the Commission shall prescribe by rules or regulations. (d) Withdrawal by candidate In any case in which an individual ceases to be a candidate as a result of the operation of the last sentence of section 9002(2), such individual—