Revisions to several FEC forms and instructions released
On October 3, 2016, the Commission posted on its website revised versions of several reporting forms and instructions. The form changes are technical and cosmetic in nature, and are intended to assist with compliance, provide clearer disclosure, and make the agency''s forms more consistent with one another. The specific forms and accompanying instructions modified include:
- FEC Form 3 (Report of Receipts and Disbursements): Used by authorized committees of House and Senate candidates;
- FEC Form 3X (Report of Receipts and Disbursements): Used by unauthorized committees including PACs and party committees;
- FEC Form 3P (Report of Receipts and Disbursements): Used by presidential candidates; and
- FEC Form 6 (48-Hour Notice of Contributions and Loans Received): Used by authorized committees of House, Senate and presidential candidates.
Changes to Forms Used by Campaigns
Beyond cosmetic improvements, Forms 3 and 3P now include:
- Boxes for committee ID numbers when disclosing disbursements for contributions or refunds made to political committees on Schedules B and B-P (Disbursements); and
- A box on Schedules C and C-P (Loans) for indicating that the source of a loan was the personal funds of a candidate.
Form 3P has also been revised by:
- Replacing the primary and general election boxes on the summary page with new boxes to indicate whether the presidential campaign is filing a 12-Day Pre-election report for a primary or general election, or a 30-Day Post-general election report; and
- Making some cosmetic improvements to the summary pages to improve compliance.
Revisions to FEC Form 6 are merely cosmetic, and include creating separate boxes for city, state and zip code.
Changes to Forms Used by PACs and Party Committees
Beyond cosmetic improvements, Form 3X has been revised by:
- Adding clarifications to Schedule A (Receipts) to recognize the receipt of contributions from entities other than individuals;
- Adding boxes for committee ID numbers when disclosing contributions or refunds made to political committees on Schedule B (Disbursements);
- Removing the 24-Hour Notice box from Schedule F (Coordinated Party Expenditures; used only by party committees), as 24-Hour notices are no longer required for coordinated party expenditures; and
- Updating the section of Schedule H1 (Method of Allocation) that applies to PACs to remove the formerly-required flat-minimum percentage and permit PACs to report any allocation of federal/nonfederal funds they have chosen to use to fund administrative expenses, generic voter drive activity and public communications referencing a party. The changes to Schedule H1 do not affect party committees.
Committees should begin using the revised forms immediately. Copies can be downloaded from the FEC website at https://beta.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/forms/ or ordered by calling, toll-free, 1-800/424-9530 (press 6) or sending an email to info@fec.gov. Note that the electronic filing format has also been modified to incorporate the revisions.
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