Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 9, September, 2024
On November 5, 1996 Initiated Act Number One (1) was adopted by
the people of the State of Arkansas. This Act provides for a credit against
Arkansas individual income tax for political contributions. A regulation is
needed for the proper administration of the tax credit provisions. The Director
of the Department of Finance and Administration and the Commissioner of Revenue
promulgate this regulation pursuant to the authority set forth in Ark. Code
Ann. §
26-18-301 and
§
26-51-104.
1. Definitions:
A. An "Approved Political Action Committee"
means any person who:
i. Receives
contributions from one (1) or more persons in oijder to make contributions to
candidates;
ii. Does not accept any
contribution or cumulative contributions in excess of two hundred dollars
($200.00) from any person in any calendar year;
iii. Has been registered with the Arkansas
Secretary of State for at least four (4) continuous months prior to making
contributions to candidates; and
iv. An approved political action committee
shall not include an organized political party, the candidate's own campaign
committee or an exploratory committee.
B. A "Candidate" means any person who has
knowingly and willingly taken affirmative action, including solicitation of
funds, for the purpose of seeking nomination for or election to any public
office.
C. An "Organized Political
Party" means:
i. Any group of voters which, at
the last-preceding general election, polled for its candidate for Governor in
the state or nominees for presidential electors at least three percent (3%) of
the entire vote cast for the office; or
ii. Any group of voters which files with the
Secretary of State a petition signed by qualified electors equal in number to
at least three percent (3%) of the total vote cast for the Office of Governor
or nominees for presidential electors at the last-preceding election and which
declares their intention of organizing a political party (the name of which
shall be stated in the declaration) and of participating in the next-succeeding
general election.
Any political party which fails to obtain at least three
percent (3%) of the total votes cast at an election for the Office of Governor
or nominees for presidential electors shall cease to be a political
party.
D. A
"Person" means any individual, proprietorship, firm, partnership, joint
venture, syndicate, labor union, business trust, company, corporation,
association, committee or any other organization or group of persons acting in
concert, including organized political parties.
E. "Public Office" means:
Any office created by or under authority of the laws of the
State of Arkansas, or of a subdivision thereof, that is filled by the voters,
except a federal office.
F.
A 'Small Donor Political Action Committee" means any person who:
i. Receives contributions from one or more
individuals in order to make contributions to candidates;
ii. Does not accept any contribution or
cumulative contributions in excess of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) from any
individual in any calendar year;
iii. Is registered with the Arkansas
Secretary of State prior to making contributions to candidates; and
iv. A small donor political action committee
shall not include an organized political party, the candidate's own campaign
committee or an exploratory committee.
2. A credit against Arkansas individual
income tax will be allowed for political contributions made by a taxpayer. The
allowable credit will reduce a taxpayer's income tax liability on a dollar for
dollar basis. All of the following criteria must be satisfied in order for the
credit to be properly taken:
A. The
contribution can be made to only one or more of the following:
i. A candidate seeking nomination or election
to a public office at an election, or to the candidate's campaign committee;
or
ii. A small donor political
action committee; or
iii. An
approved political action committee; or
iv. An organized political party;
B. The credit can be claimed only
for the tax year in which the contribution was actually made. The credit cannot
be carried back or forward. The credit is also non-refundable. The term
"non-refundable" means that any credit in excess of the actual tax liability
will not be refunded to the taxpayer or carried forward in any
manner.
C.
1. The maximum amount of credit that can be
claimed for any given tax year is fifty dollars ($50.00) per individual return
(i.e. filing single) and one hundred dollars ($100.00) per joint return,
despite the fact that the taxpayer or taxpayers may have actually contributed
more than these maximum amounts;
2.
The maximum amount of credit allowable per tax year for a "contribution or
contributions to any single Small Donor Political Action Committee is $25.00
(filing single) and $50.00 (filing jointly). No credit will be allowed for any
amount donated to any single Small Donor Political Action Committee that
exceeds the cap of $25.00 per person, per year.
D. The credit may be claimed only on Arkansas
individual income tax returns and not on any other type of income tax return.
For example, the credit could not be claimed on the following types of income
tax returns: corporate; sub-chapter S; partnership and fiduciary;
E. The contribution must be in the form of
money. "Money" means: cash (currency and coins); money orders and negotiable
checks.
F. The taxpayer shall
provide the amount of each political contribution and the person or entity to
whom each such political contribution was made during the tax year. This
information shall be provided on a form issued by the Department. The sum total
of all contributions shall be calculated by the taxpayer and the appropriate
amount of credit should then be entered on the designated line in the tax
credits section of the Arkansas individual income tax return.
The completed tax credit form should be attached by the
taxpayer to the backside of the Arkansas individual income tax return.
3. No credit may be
taken for contributions made to a candidate seeking nomination or election to a
federal office, including contributions made directly to the candidate or
indirectly through a campaign committee, political action committee or
political party.
4. This income tax
regulation shall apply to all tax years beginning on and after January 1, 1997.
The first income tax credits will be available on the 1997 individual income
tax returns filed in 1998.
