FAQs About Financial Disclosure for Members, Officers, and Employees

For most Members and senior staff, FD Reports are due annually on May 15. For information regarding the due dates for Candidates, new Members, new (promoted) senior staff, and termination filers, see the Committee’s Instruction Guide section on Who Must File and When.

Generally, yes for FD Reports and Amendments. The Committee may grant reasonable extensions of time. Under the law, an extension request for one filing in a calendar year may not exceed 90 days. Extensions Requests MUST be received prior to the due date.  Extensions for PTRs are not permitted under the STOCK Act.

To request an extension for an FD Report, the filer may:

1. Use the electronic filing system.
2. Submit a paper FD Extension Request Form, located on the Committee’s website, to the Committee at LHOB 1015 or e-mail it to: disclosure@mail.house.gov.
3. Submit a written request, stating the length of time to disclosure@mail.house.gov.

Note: An extension request is not timely if it was only postmarked, but was not received, by the due date. Extension requests for Amendments must be submitted using the paper FD Extension Request Form and emailed to Financial.Disclosure@mail.house.gov.

Yes, as resources permit. Call 202-225-7103 for more information.

You may use the annuity’s face value, the company’s estimate of the current value, or the value of premiums paid plus accrued income.

Yes, if the prize value meets the reporting threshold.

Yes, if the prize value meets the reporting threshold.

In that event, the bond is reportable if more than $200 in income (usually interest income) was received during the reporting period. If the bond has already matured, the value will be “None (or less than $1,001).” (Note that, if you sold the bond before its maturity date, you may have both interest and capital gains to report.)

No.

Filers are required to make a good faith effort to calculate the amount of interest received. You may find the information in an IRS Form 1099 or in a brokerage account statement. Otherwise, you may be able to estimate the amount of interest during a reporting period by apportioning the difference between the purchase price and the maturity value over the bond’s term. (It is not sufficient to state a bond’s series or interest rate.)

Municipal bonds, often called Munis, are debt obligations of states, cities, counties, or other political subdivisions of states in the United States.

Two common types are:

• general obligations (GOs), used for general expenditures and backed by the issuer’s full faith and credit (taxing and borrowing power); and
• revenue bonds (REVs), used to finance specific public service projects and backed by cash flow from those projects. Examples are bonds to finance bridges, turnpikes, tunnels, water and sewer systems, schools, power plants, prisons, transportation systems, hospitals, sports complexes, and airports.

Like other debt obligations, municipal bonds may be issued at a discount as zero coupons. They may also be stripped like Treasuries and sold and backed by investment brokers.

You may use any one of the following options:

• the bond’s maturity value.
• the value as shown on an account statement at the end of the reporting period.
• the current market value; or
• a good faith estimates if the exact value cannot be obtained without undue hardship or expense.

Yes, you may report salary and a cash bonus in a single entry. Write the phrase “salary and bonus” in the “Income Type” field. Be sure to provide the combined amount of your salary and bonus.

However, you may not combine salary and a bonus receivable (i.e., a bonus you have not yet received). Also, do not combine salary and a bonus in the form of stock options, restricted stock, or other equity. Do not combine salary and deferred compensation.

Follow the instructions for an Option (incentive stock option plan) or Warrant.

A brokerage account is not an investment fund, which means that the account can never be an excepted investment fund. In addition, most brokerage accounts would not satisfy the various elements of the excepted investment fund test, even if they were investment funds.

Yes. Like how these dividends and capital gains are treated for purposes of federal income tax, you must report the dividends and capital gains as “received” income for purposes of public financial disclosure. The only exception would be if the brokerage account itself is tax-deferred (e.g., this is an account for your IRA). In the event your account is tax-deferred, please see the instructions in this guide applicable to the type of tax-deferred account that you have.

Report the sweep account as “U.S. brokerage account (cash).”

Household furnishings and paintings displayed for decorative or artistic purposes would not normally be considered collectible items held for investment. However, if you purchased a collectible for the purpose of realizing a gain upon sale or if you subsequently began treating a set of collectibles as a source of income, then the collectibles would be reportable, subject to the value and income thresholds.

Periodic sales from a collection of artworks would indicate that the collection is held for investment purposes. Similarly, acquiring a collectible with a group of investors would generally indicate an investment purpose. Absent any prior sales or other documented steps that signal an investment purpose, reporting would depend on your own sense of why you hold the collectible.

You may use a recent purchase price, a recent appraisal for insurance purposes, a published price guide, the recent sale price of similar items, or a good faith estimate.

No. The account is considered the property of your parents.

Yes, if the total value was more than $1,000 at the end of the reporting period or if you received a distribution or withdrawal of more than $200 during the reporting period. You do not need to report distributions or withdrawals made to your grandchildren or to an educational institution for your grandchildren’s benefit because the distribution/withdrawal is viewed as your grandchildren’s income.