Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Strengthening Charities Through Transparency Act of 2014”.
Strengthening Charities Through Transparency Act of 2014
A BILL
To improve transparency in charity regulation.
Sec. 2 Mandatory electronic filing for annual returns of exempt organizations
In general— Section 6033 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by redesignating subsection (n) as subsection (o) and by inserting after subsection (m) the following new subsection:
“(n) Mandatory electronic filing—Any organization required to file a return under this section shall file such return in electronic form.”
Effective date— The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act.
Sec. 3 Inspection of electronically filed annual returns of exempt organizations
In general— Subsection (b) of section 6104 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following: “Any annual return required to be filed electronically under section 6033(m) shall be made available by the Secretary to the public in machine readable format as soon as practicable.”.
Effective date— The amendments made by this section shall apply to returns filed for taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act.
Sec. 4 Establishment of database listing charities and charity management officials convicted of fraud
In general— Upon request by the Attorney General, a State shall make available information regarding a charity or a charity management official that has been convicted of a fraud, theft, or a financial offense. Beginning not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall establish a database that lists each such charity or charity management official. Information received under this subsection shall be made available to State Attorney Generals for regulatory and law enforcement purposes.
Definitions— In this section:
The terms “charity”, “charity management official”, “information”, and “financial offenses” have such meanings as the Attorney General shall by rule establish.
The term “State” means any of the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and any other territory or possession of the United States.