[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 11, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 11CFR116.5]

[Page 234-235]
 
                       TITLE 11--FEDERAL ELECTIONS
 
                 CHAPTER I--FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION
 
PART 116_DEBTS OWED BY CANDIDATES AND POLITICAL COMMITTEES--Table of Contents
 
Sec.  116.5  Advances by committee staff and other individuals.

    (a) Scope. This section applies to individuals who are not acting as 
commercial vendors. Individuals who are acting as commercial vendors 
shall follow the requirements of 11 CFR 116.3 and 116.4.
    (b) Treatment as contributions. The payment by an individual from 
his or her personal funds, including a personal credit card, for the 
costs incurred in providing goods or services to, or obtaining goods or 
services that are used by or on behalf of, a candidate or a political 
committee is a contribution unless the payment is exempted from the 
definition of contribution under 11 CFR 100.79. If the payment is not 
exempted

[[Page 235]]

under 11 CFR 100.79, it shall be considered a contribution by the 
individual unless--
    (1) The payment is for the individual's transportation expenses 
incurred while traveling on behalf of a candidate or political committee 
of a political party or for usual and normal subsistence expenses 
incurred by an individual, other than a volunteer, while traveling on 
behalf of a candidate or political committee of a political party; and
    (2) The individual is reimbursed within sixty days after the closing 
date of the billing statement on which the charges first appear if the 
payment was made using a personal credit card, or within thirty days 
after the date on which the expenses were incurred if a personal credit 
card was not used. For purposes of this section, the closing date shall 
be the date indicated on the billing statement which serves as the 
cutoff date for determining which charges are included on that billing 
statement. In addition, ``subsistence expenses'' include only 
expenditures for personal living expenses related to a particular 
individual traveling on committee business, such as food or lodging.
    (c) Treatment as debts. A political committee shall treat the 
obligation arising from a payment described in paragraph (b) of this 
section as an outstanding debt until reimbursed.
    (d) Settlement or forgiveness of the debt. The individual and the 
political committee may agree to the total forgiveness of the debt (See 
11 CFR 116.8) or a settlement of the debt for less than the entire 
amount owed (See 11 CFR 116.7), provided that the requirements of 11 CFR 
116.7 or 116.8, as appropriate, including the submission of the 
information specified in these sections and Commission review, are 
satisfied. The provisions of this part shall not be construed to require 
the individual to forgive or settle the debt for less than the entire 
amount owed.
    (e) Reporting. The political committee shall continue to report the 
obligation arising from the payment as a debt in accordance with 11 CFR 
104.3(d) and 104.11 until the Commission has completed a review of the 
debt settlement plan pursuant to 11 CFR 116.7(f) or until the Commission 
has completed a review of the request to forgive the debt pursuant to 11 
CFR 116.8, or until the political committee pays the debt, whichever 
occurs first.

[55 FR 26386, June 27, 1990, as amended at 56 FR 35911, July 29, 1991; 
67 FR 78682, Dec. 26, 2002]