Foreign Funding Transparency Act

Foreign Funding Transparency Act

This bill requires certain organizations exempt from federal income tax to report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) information related to contributions received from foreign nationals.

The bill applies to tax-exempt organizations described in Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code (e.g., charities, social welfare organizations, labor organizations, and business or civics leagues) with (1) gross receipts for the preceding tax year of $200,000 or more, or (2) assets (determined at the close of the preceding tax year) of $500,000 or more.

Such tax-exempt organizations that are required to file a Form 990 series information return with the IRS must report (1) the aggregate amount of contributions received during the tax year from foreign nationals, and (2) the portion of those contributions received from foreign nationals from China, Iran, Korea, or Russia.

Under the bill, a tax-exempt organization may rely on the representation of the donor as to nationality unless the organization knows or should know that such representation is false.