Disgorged contributions
If a committee deposits a contribution that appears to be legal and later discovers that it is prohibited, the committee must refund the contribution to the original contributor (if known) within 30 days of making the discovery. Alternatively, the committee may disgorge the funds to the U.S. Treasury at:
U.S. Department of the Treasury
Bureau of the Fiscal Service
P.O. Box 1328
Parkersburg, WV 26106-1328
Attn: Agency Cash Branch, Avery 3G
Reporting on candidate forms
House and Senate committees report disgorging funds to the U.S. Treasury in the “Other Disbursements” category on Form 3, Line 21. The committee must itemize the donation on Schedule B for Line 21 if payments to the U.S. Treasury aggregate more than $200 for the election cycle. Report the purpose of disbursement as “disgorgement.”
If the identity of the original contributor is known and the contribution required itemization, report the original contribution as a memo entry on Schedule B supporting Line 21, and add a description that ties the memo entry to the payment to the U.S. Treasury.
The committee received a contribution from Suspicious LLC and has not been able to refund it to the LLC. The committee decides to disgorge the contribution. The committee reports disgorging a contribution to the U.S. Treasury on Line 21. It includes the Treasury's information, date the contribution was disgorged, and amount disgorged. The committee includes a clear purpose of disbursement, "Disgorgement of Contribution" and a note to "See Contributor Information Below."
The committee also reports information about Suspicious LLC's contribution as a memo entry. It discloses the LLC's address, date, amount, and a clear purpose of disbursement, "Disgorged Contribution."
Reporting with FECFile
To enter a disgorgement, go to the Summary Page tab, right click on “Line 21 Other disbursements” and select “new.” To add memo entries for original contributors, right click on the disgorgement entry and select “Transaction Split.” Enter each original contributor by clicking “add new.”
