[EL] using political campaign resources for advocacy

[BZall at aol.com]

Of course. At the last First Tuesday Lunch Group meeting a couple of  days 
ago in Washington D.C., a similar question was asked and most of the 14  
lawyers in the room had significant experience with this question. 
 
It's fairly straightforward under tax law - it is the mirror image of the  
"primarily" test for c4 political activity. That is, a 527 can engage in  
non-political activity so long as it does not represent a primary activity; it 
 is taxed on the non-political activity, just as the c4 might be taxed on 
the  political activity. See also, Treas. Regs. § 1.527-2(a)(3); . PLR 
9808037 (Feb. 20, 1998); there are many others you can  search for. You may also 
want to review the 2002  IRS CPE text, App. III beginning on P. 458 (I 
believe), available here: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/eotopici02.pdf.  (Note: 
this 153-page tome is mandatory reading for anyone looking at the tax law  
implications of electioneering or related activity.)
 
As to the campaign finance aspect, that would depend on federal or state  
law, and is probably very fact specific. Most such laws, however, do not  
prohibit such activities; they may subject the advocacy activities to the  same 
type of disclosure and reporting rules as electioneering. 

Barnaby Zall 
Of Counsel 
Weinberg, Jacobs & Tolani,  LLP 
10411 Motor City Drive, Suite 500
Bethesda, MD 20817
301-231-6943  (direct dial) 
bzall at aol.com  
_____________________________________________________________ 
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Any U.S. federal tax advice included in  this communication (including 
any attachments) was not intended or written  to be used, and cannot be 
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In a message dated 4/4/2013 2:38:21 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
sarah at sarahstirland.com writes:

Hi  all -- has anyone on this list ever had to grapple with this issue, or 
know  someone who has?   


I have a specific  question in mind. 


best, 


Sarah



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