Non-contribution Receipts

(1) The following items, when provided by business entities in the ordinary course of business, are "non-contribution receipts". These items are not considered "contributions" subject to the prohibition on the receipt of corporate contributions in M.G.L. c. 55, § 8, or the contribution limits of the campaign finance law: (a) refunds, credit card rewards, or other monetary benefits, which would also be available to other committees or the general public on the same terms and conditions; or (b) goods or services which would also be available to other committees or the general public on the same terms and conditions. (2) To the extent non-contribution receipts are in monetary form, the money received must be deposited into the recipient committee's campaign account and disclosed as a "non-contribution receipt". If the item received is a good or service, the item is not subject to disclosure requirements and is not reported by the committee as an in-kind contribution, but instead is an asset of the committee. (3) Except as provided in 970 CMR 1.25(4), the sale of an item by a committee, whether directly or through a third-party vendor, results in a contribution received by the committee for the entire sale price, not the net amount after deducting the committee's cost for obtaining the item or vendor fees. (4) A transfer between political committees of money, goods or services, creates a rebuttable presumption that the value transferred is a contribution to the receiving committee, subject to the limits and disclosure requirements of the campaign finance law, including the $100 limit on contributions between candidate committees in M.G.L. c. 55, § 6. The presumption may be rebutted if the committees are able to demonstrate to OCPF that the committee selling the item would receive or has received fair market value for the item sold, and the item could only be sold one time. For example, a candidate's committee may sell a desk to another committee if it receives fair market value from such sale, but it may not sell a mailing list if it would result in the receipt of more than $100 from another candidate's committee because a mailing list may be sold more than one time. (5) Committees are required to maintain records, consistent with the requirements specified in 970 CMR 1.10.