Why Is My IE Appearing on Line 21(B)? About Paying First and Disseminating Later

Applies To: Federal Election Commission – Political Action Committees (PACs), Party Committees

The following information impacts Form 3x & Form 3x (Party).

When an expense is paid in one period, but the IE is dated for a future period/dissemination date, the FEC has a specific way they want to see this itemized.

The IE is reported three times:

The original/parent expense is reported on Line 21b in accordance with the report period of the original/parent transaction date. There is no Support/Oppose Memo information on the transaction.
When the Support/Oppose Memo date falls in the appropriate report period, we “move” the transaction from Line 21b to Line 24 / Sch E. This is done by reporting the original/parent expense as a negative on Line 21b.
On the same report, the IE is also reported on Line 24 / Sch E with all of the appropriate Candidate/Committee information.

This will impact your per-line totals, especially in Col B. But because we are itemizing the transaction as a negative on Line 21b, the overall impact on your ending cash on hand is negated.