If a 527 does not incorporate, is it still exempt from paying taxes on contributions it receives?  If not, if it receives a $10 million contribution  from Soros, it would probably have to pay nearly half of it taxes, wouldn't it?

Prof. Frank Askin
Constitutional Litigation Clinic
Rutgers Law School/Newark
(973) 353-5687

Rick Hasen <Rick.Hasen@lls.edu> 12/10/03 06:21PM >>>

Over on the election law list last week, I responded to a post by Jim Bopp about George Soros giving money to various pro-Democratic organizations. Bopp's point was that BCRA favors individuals over groups.
My response was that it appears that nothing prevents a group of individuals from banding together as an unincorporated 527 organization. (See here.) If the organization declines any corporate and union funds and avoids express advocacy (so as not to be classified as a political committee under the FECA), it looks like it could engage in unlimited spending with unlimited contributions from individuals. Trevor Potter replied: "I think Rick is correct in his statement of current law. This raises a variety of legal and policy questions, such as whether an organization whose express purpose is to defeat a specific federal candidate should be outside of the federal election laws."

This point is now all the more urgent given the Supreme Court's decision in McConnell. Because if I am right, we are likely to see a significant amount of activity along these lines in the 2004 election cycle. I would be interested in hearing from anyone who believes that this interpretation is incorrect. -- Rick HasenProfessor of Law and William M. Rains FellowLoyola Law School919 South Albany StreetLos Angeles, CA  90015-1211(213)736-1466(213)380-3769 - faxrick.hasen@lls.eduhttp://www.lls.edu/academics/faculty/hasen.htmlhttp://electionlawblog.org