IRS launches political-group disclosure site

The IRS launched a Web site today to make it easier for political organizations to electronically file required documents and improve the public’s access to the information.The Political Organizations Filing and Disclosure site, at , reflects congressional changes from last year intended to ensure that political organizations with tax-exempt status, known as Section 527 political organizations, disclose financial and other essential information on a timely basis. It replaces the prior filing-and-search site that was developed in 2000 in response to earlier legislation.The public can view, search or download the entire database of electronic filings by political organizations. Visitors to the site can learn contributors’ names, contribution amounts and dates, as well as review a list of the organization’s expenditures.“With this new site, we can now offer an improved tool to support public disclosure of political activity, allowing for a better informed public,” said Steven Miller, IRS director of exempt organizations. During the initial transition to the site, all electronic filings of forms are available for search, but only paper filings posted by June 13 are searchable. The remaining forms will be available shortly, Miller said.