# Tax Code Hub Reader map for **/Policy/Tax Code/** — the entity types created by the [[Internal Revenue Code]] and FEC regulation, plus the underlying tax topics. Folder rationale: the tax code is the statutory machinery that *creates* these entities, so they live alongside the laws (in /Policy/), not scattered in /Concepts/. The organizing insight: nearly every institution this KB tracks — think tank, advocacy group, super PAC, foundation, donor network — is first and foremost a **tax status**. Reading the money means reading which box on which form the entity checked, and what each status lets it hide. ## The Entity-Type Stack (most constrained → least) The whole architecture is a ladder of trade-offs. As money moves *down* this list it gains freedom (more dollars, less disclosure) and sheds protections: | Entity | Money in | Can give to candidates? | Discloses donors? | Deductible? | |---|---|---|---|---| | [[501(c)(3)]] | unlimited | no (Johnson Amendment) | no | **yes** | | [[Political Action Committee]] | limited | **yes** (limited) | yes | no | | [[Leadership PAC]] | limited | yes (to others) | yes | no | | [[Super PACs]] | unlimited | no (independent only) | yes | no | | [[Hybrid PAC]] | both accounts | partial | yes | no | | [[501(c)(4)]] | unlimited | not primary purpose | **no** | no | | [[501(c)(6)]] | unlimited | not primary purpose | **no** | no | | [[Donor-Advised Fund]] | unlimited | no | **no (downstream)** | **yes** | The post-[[Citizens United v. FEC]] era is the story of money migrating down this ladder — toward the unlimited, undisclosed end. ## Charitable & Membership Forms - [[501(c)(3)]] — charitable/religious/educational; deductible; the movement's entry point - [[Public Charity vs Private Foundation]] — the split inside every (c)(3) - [[Donor-Advised Fund]] — the anonymizing donation layer ([[DonorsTrust]]) - [[501(c)(4)]] — social-welfare; the principal dark-money vehicle - [[501(c)(5)]] — labor and agricultural organizations - [[501(c)(6)]] — business leagues, chambers of commerce, trade associations - [[Johnson Amendment]] — the (c)(3) campaign-intervention ban (and its 2025 IRS church carve-out) ## Political Committees (FEC-regulated; 527s for tax purposes) - [[527 Organization]] — the tax umbrella over all political committees - [[Political Action Committee]] — the limited, disclosed, coordinated baseline - [[Super PACs]] — unlimited independent-expenditure committees - [[Crypto Super PACs]] — the crypto-industry super-PAC wave - [[Hybrid PAC]] — two-account combination vehicle - [[Leadership PAC]] — politician-controlled influence PAC - [[Joint Fundraising Committee]] — the mega-donor multi-recipient check ## The Full 501(c) Enumeration The politically central subsections are above. The remainder, for completeness: [[501(c)(1)]] · [[501(c)(2)]] · [[501(c)(7)]] · [[501(c)(8)]] · [[501(c)(9)]] · [[501(c)(10)]] · [[501(c)(11)]] · [[501(c)(12)]] · [[501(c)(13)]] · [[501(c)(14)]] · [[501(c)(15)]] · [[501(c)(16)]] · [[501(c)(17)]] · [[501(c)(18)]] · [[501(c)(19)]] · [[501(c)(20)]] · [[501(c)(21)]] · [[501(c)(22)]] · [[501(c)(23)]] · [[501(c)(24)]] · [[501(c)(25)]] · [[501(c)(26)]] · [[501(c)(27)]] · [[501(c)(28)]] · [[501(c)(29)]] Non-501(c) tax-exempt forms: [[501(d)]] · [[521 Farmers' Cooperative]] · [[4947 Nonexempt Charitable Trust]] ## Tax Topics The broader tax-policy layer (skeleton — expand over time): - [[Internal Revenue Code]] — the statute itself (Title 26) - [[Income Tax]] · [[Capital Gains Tax]] · [[Corporate Income Tax]] · [[Payroll Tax]] - [[Estate Tax]] — the "death tax" and dynastic wealth - [[Step-Up in Basis]] — the inherited-gains erasure rule - [[Buy, Borrow, Die]] — how realization + borrowing + step-up combine into a tax-free wealth strategy ## Connects To - [[Campaign Finance]] — the Foundations hub this folder feeds - [[Dark Money]] — the analytical phenomenon (kept in /Concepts/, not an entity) - [[Anti-Tax Movement]] — the political project against taxation - [[Tax Cuts and Jobs Act]] — the 2017 rewrite - [[IRS]] — the agency that grants and polices exemption