26 U.S.C. § 9003 — Condition for eligibility for payments

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— Page 4095 TITLE 26—INTERNAL REVENUE CODE § 9004 (1) shall no longer be eligible to receive any payments under section 9006, except that such individual shall be eligible to receive pay- ments under such section to defray qualified campaign expenses incurred while actively seeking 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; and (2) shall pay to the Secretary, as soon as practicable after the date upon which such in- dividual ceases to be a candidate, an amount equal to the amount of payments received by such individual under section 9006 which are not used to defray qualified campaign ex- penses. (e) Closed captioning requirement No candidate for the office of President or Vice President may receive amounts from the Presidential Election Campaign Fund under this chapter or chapter 96 unless such candidate has certified that any television commercial pre- pared or distributed by the candidate will be prepared in a manner which ensures that the commercial contains or is accompanied by closed captioning of the oral content of the com- mercial to be broadcast in line 21 of the vertical blanking interval, or is capable of being viewed by deaf and hearing impaired individuals via any comparable successor technology to line 21 of the vertical blanking interval. (Added Pub. L. 92–178, title VIII, § 801, Dec. 10, 1971, 85 Stat. 564; amended Pub. L. 93–53, § 6(c), July 1, 1973, 87 Stat. 139; Pub. L. 93–443, title IV, §§ 404(c)(4), (5), 405(b), Oct. 15, 1974, 88 Stat. 1292, 1294; Pub. L. 94–283, title III, § 306(a)(2), May 11, 1976, 90 Stat. 500; Pub. L. 94–455, title XIX, § 1906(b)(13)(A), Oct. 4, 1976, 90 Stat. 1834; Pub. L. 102–393, title V, § 534(a), Oct. 6, 1992, 106 Stat. 1764; Pub. L. 115–141, div. U, title IV, § 401(a)(338), Mar. 23, 2018, 132 Stat. 1200.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2018—Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 115–141 substituted ‘‘sec- tion 9006(c)’’ for ‘‘section 9006(d)’’. 1992—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 102–393 added subsec. (e). 1976—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 94–455 struck out ‘‘or his delegate’’ after ‘‘Secretary’’. Pub. L. 94–283 added subsec. (d). 1974—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 93–443, §§ 404(c)(4), 405(b), substituted ‘‘Commission’’ and ‘‘it’’ for ‘‘Comptroller General’’ and ‘‘he’’, respectively, wherever appearing, struck out in par. (1) ‘‘with respect to which payment is sought’’ after ‘‘campaign expenses’’ and struck out par. (4) requirement for an agreement to furnish state- ments of qualified campaign expenses and proposed qualified campaign expenses required under section 9008 of this title. Subsecs. (b), (c). Pub. L. 93–443, § 404(c)(5), substituted ‘‘Commission’’ for ‘‘Comptroller General’’ wherever ap- pearing. 1973—Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 93–53 substituted section ‘‘9006(d)’’ for ‘‘9006(c)’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1992 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 102–393, title V, § 534(b), Oct. 6, 1992, 106 Stat. 1764, provided that: ‘‘The amendment made by sub- section (a) [amending this section] shall apply to amounts made available under chapter 95 or 96 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 more than thirty days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 6, 1992].’’ EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1976 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 94–283 effective May 11, 1976, see section 306(c) of Pub. L. 94–283, set out as a note under section 9002 of this title. 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. EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1973 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 93–53 applicable with respect to taxable years beginning after Dec. 31, 1972, see sec- tion 6(d) of Pub. L. 93–53, set out as a note under sec- tion 6096 of this title. § 9004. Entitlement of eligible candidates to pay- ments (a) In general Subject to the provisions of this chapter— (1) The eligible candidates of each major party in a presidential election shall be enti- tled to equal payments under section 9006 in an amount which, in the aggregate, shall not exceed the expenditure limitations applicable to such candidates under section 315(b)(1)(B) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. (2)(A) The eligible candidates of a minor party in a presidential election shall be enti- tled to payments under section 9006 equal in the aggregate to an amount which bears the same ratio to the amount allowed under para- graph (1) for a major party as the number of popular votes received by the candidate for President of the minor party, as such can- didate, in the preceding presidential election bears to the average number of popular votes received by the candidates for President of the major parties in the preceding presidential election. (B) If the candidate of one or more political parties (not including a major party) for the office of President was a candidate for such of- fice in the preceding presidential election and received 5 percent or more but less than 25 percent of the total number of popular votes received by all candidates for such office, such candidate and his running mate for the office of Vice President, upon compliance with the provisions of section 9003(a) and (c), shall be treated as eligible candidates entitled to pay- ments under section 9006 in an amount com- puted as provided in subparagraph (A) by tak- ing into account all the popular votes received by such candidate for the office of President in the preceding presidential election. If eligible candidates of a minor party are entitled to payments under this subparagraph, such enti- tlement shall be reduced by the amount of the entitlement allowed under subparagraph (A). (3) The eligible candidates of a minor party or a new party in a presidential election whose candidate for President in such election re- ceives, as such candidate, 5 percent or more of the total number of popular votes cast for the office of President in such election shall be en-