HR 9772: Foreign Funding Transparency Act

HR 9772 in plain English: This bill would require certain tax-exempt organizations to disclose foreign funding they receive. The disclosure requirements apply to organizations whose gross receipts are at least $200,000 or whose assets are at least $500,000.

Stated purpose

This bill aims to require certain tax-exempt organizations to disclose on their annual tax returns how much money they receive from foreign nationals, including separate reporting for contributions from nationals of countries designated as 'foreign countries of concern.'

Key points

• Requires tax-exempt organizations to disclose foreign funding received
• Applies to organizations with gross receipts of $200,000 or more, or assets of $500,000 or more
• Allows organizations to rely on donor representations about foreign status

Arguments supporters make

• Americans deserve to know when nonprofit organizations operating in the U.S. are receiving significant funding from foreign nationals, especially from adversarial countries.
• This bill closes a transparency gap — foreign political donations are already banned in elections, but foreign money flowing into influential nonprofits has gone largely unreported.
• The reporting burden is limited to larger organizations and relies on donor self-representation, making compliance manageable without treating small groups as suspects.

Arguments opponents make

• Requiring nonprofits to report donor nationalities could chill charitable giving, discourage lawful foreign philanthropy, and expose organizations to political targeting based on their funding sources.
• The bill relies heavily on donor self-reporting and shields organizations that are deceived, which critics say creates an easy loophole that bad actors can exploit, making transparency largely symbolic.
• Civil liberties and free-association advocates argue that linking donor nationality to public IRS filings sets a precedent for government surveillance of legal nonprofit activity based on who funds them.

Tradeoffs

Greater public transparency about foreign money in U.S. civil society comes at the cost of potential chilling effects on lawful international philanthropy and increased administrative burdens on nonprofits; the bill trades some donor privacy and organizational flexibility for more government visibility into foreign funding flows.

Current status in Congress: In committee.

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