<P> Technically, almost all political committees, including state, local, and federal candidate committees, traditional political action committees, "Super PACs", and political parties are "527s ." However, in common practice the term is usually applied only to such organizations that are not regulated under state or federal campaign finance laws because they do not "expressly advocate" for the election or defeat of a candidate or party . </P> <P> There are no upper limits on contributions to 527s and no restrictions on who may contribute . There are no spending limits imposed on these organizations . The organizations must register with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), publicly disclose their donors and file periodic reports of contributions and expenditures . </P> <P> Because they may not expressly advocate for specific candidates or coordinate with any candidate's campaign, many 527s are used to raise money to spend on issue advocacy and voter mobilization . Examples of 527s are Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, Texans for Truth, The Media Fund, America Coming Together, the Progress for America Voter Fund, and the Secretary of State Project . </P> <P> Internal Revenue Code section 527 was enacted as part of Public Law No. 93 - 625 on January 3, 1975 . In the case of Buckley v. Valeo, the U.S. Supreme Court attempted to draw a limit on the extent to which campaign finance laws could regulate speech about politics . The Court's answer was that campaign finance laws could reach only party and candidate committees, organizations with the major purpose of electing candidates, or speech that "expressly advocated" the election or defeat of candidates . The determination of whether a group had the major purpose of electing candidates depended, in turn, on whether "express advocacy" was the group's primary activity . In footnote 6 of the Buckley opinion, the Court limited "express advocacy" to words and phrases such as "Smith for Congress," "elect," "defeat," or other specific calls for action to vote for or against a candidate . Thus, organizations could run ads discussing candidates and issues without being subject to campaign finance restrictions, so long as they avoided such express advocacy . </P>

What is the difference between a pac and 527 group