Treasury Regulations · 26 CFR
§ 56.4911-7. Affiliated group of organizations.
Regulation text, no changes From the eCFR, current as of October 15, 2026. The eCFR is an authoritative but unofficial editorial compilation of the Code of Federal Regulations; the official text is the annual CFR on govinfo. Compare it with this section on ecfr.gov (external site) or the official annual CFR on govinfo (external site).
Regulation under 26 U.S.C. § 4911
Cite as 26 CFR § 56.4911-7
At a glance
Read from the text and its source citation. Not part of the regulation.
- Status
- In the current eCFR
- Source
- T.D. 8308, 55 FR 35598, Aug. 31, 1990, unless otherwise noted.
- Issued under
- 26 U.S.C. § 4911
- Length
- 2,520 words · about 11 min to read
- Defines
- 1 term
- Cross-references
- cites 2 Code sections and 3 regulations; cited by 11
Each organization in a group of organizations that satisfies the requirements of the preceding sentence is a member of the affiliated group of organizations for the taxable year of the affiliated group.
M, N, and O are eligible organizations within the meaning of § 1.501(h)-2(b)(1). Each has a governing board made up of nine members. Five members on the board of N are also members of the board of M. N designates five individuals from among its board, officers, and executive staff members to serve on the board of O. M is affiliated with N, N is affiliated with O, and M is affiliated with O.
X, an eligible organization, has a board consisting of 10 members. Five unaffiliated tax-exempt organizations each designate two individuals to serve on the governing board of X. A simple majority of the board of X is a quorum and may establish X's position on legislative issues. X is not affiliated with any of the five autonomous organizations by reason of interlocking governing boards.
P and Q are eligible organizations. The governing instruments of Q state that it will not take a position on legislation if P disapproves of the position. In addition, there is regular correspondence between P and Q with regard to positions on legislation. P is affiliated with Q regardless of whether P has ever vetoed a position taken by Q.
The governing board of organization R resolves to adopt the position taken on legislative issues by organization S. R and S are eligible organizations and do not have interlocking governing boards. The governing instruments of R do not mention organization S and do not indicate that R is to be bound by the decisions of legislation of any organization. R and S are not affiliated.
Organization Z is bound, under the terms of its governing instruments, by the legislative positions of Organization Y. Organization Y, however, is bound, under the terms of its governing instruments, by the legislative positions of Organization X. Organization X is affiliated with Y and Z; Y is affiliated with X and Z; and Z is affiliated with X and Y.
Organizations T and U have interlocking boards of directors. T is the controlling organization. Organization V is bound, under the terms of its governing instruments, by the legislative positions of U. T and V are affiliated because T may cause or prevent action on legislative issues by U, and V is bound by U's action. If U were the controlling organization, T and V would be affiliated as two organizations controlled by the same organization.
Organization A is described in section 501(c)(4). It is affiliated, as the controlling organization, with organizations K and L, both of which are described in section 501(c)(3) and are eligible to elect under section 501(h). If K elects under section 501(h), K and L are an affiliated group of organizations. Even though A is affiliated with K and L, A is not a member of that affiliated group of organizations because A is not an eligible organization within the meaning of § 1.501(h)-2(b)(1) (see § 56.4911-7(e)(1) for the definition of which affiliated organizations may be members of an affiliated group of organizations).
G, H, I, and J are eligible organizations. G, H, and I have elected the expenditure test under section 501(h). The governing board of J has nine members. Under the governing instruments of J, organizations G, H, and I each designate three members of the governing board of J. Also under the governing instruments of J, action on legislative issues requires the approval of any seven board members. Because the three representatives of G may prevent action on legislative issues, J is affiliated with G. Similarly, J is affiliated with each of H and I. However, under none of the rules of affiliation is G affiliated with H, or H with I, or I with G. Therefore J is a member of one affiliated group comprising G and J, of another group comprising H and J, and of a third group comprising I and J.
Organizations C, D, and E have been affiliated for many years and have all elected the expenditure test. Each has a taxable year ending July 31. For every day of the year ending July 31, 1992, they were eligible organizations, electing member organizations, and affiliated with each other. On no day of that year were they affiliated with any other eligible organization having a different taxable year. Therefore, the year ending July 31, 1992, is the taxable year of the affiliated group comprising C, D, and E.
Terms defined here
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Cross-references
Computed from the citations in the text of 26 CFR.
Code sections it cites
- § 4911 Tax on excess expenditures to influence legislation
- § 501 Exemption from tax on corporations, certain trusts, etc.
Regulations it cites
- § 56.4911-8 Excess lobbying expenditures of affiliated group.
- § 56.4911-10 Members of a limited affiliated group of organizations.
- § 1.501(h)-2 Electing the expenditure test.
Cited by 11 other regulations
- § 1.501(h)-2 Electing the expenditure test.
- § 1.501(h)-3 Lobbying or grass roots expenditures normally in excess of ceiling amount.
- § 1.504-2 Certain transfers made to avoid section 504(a).
- § 1.6033-2 Returns by exempt organizations and returns by certain nonexempt organizations.
- § 56.4911-0 Outline of regulations under section 4911.
- § 56.4911-1 Tax on excess lobbying expenditures.
- § 56.4911-2 Lobbying expenditures, direct lobbying communications, and grass roots lobbying communications.
- § 56.4911-4 Exempt purpose expenditures.
- § 56.4911-5 Communications with members.
- § 56.4911-9 Application of section 501(h) to affiliated groups of organizations.
- § 56.4911-10 Members of a limited affiliated group of organizations.
Where it sits in 26 CFR
- Subchapter D Miscellaneous excise taxes
- Part 56 Public charity excise taxes
Nearby sections
- § 56.4911-3 Expenditures for direct and/or grass roots lobbying communications.
- § 56.4911-4 Exempt purpose expenditures.
- § 56.4911-5 Communications with members.
- § 56.4911-6 Records of lobbying and grass roots expenditures.
- § 56.4911-7 Affiliated group of organizations.
- § 56.4911-8 Excess lobbying expenditures of affiliated group.
- § 56.4911-9 Application of section 501(h) to affiliated groups of organizations.
- § 56.4911-10 Members of a limited affiliated group of organizations.
- § 56.6001-1 Notice or regulations requiring records, statements, and special returns.