5 C.F.R. § 2634.907
Note to paragraph (b)(2): In determining whether an honorarium exceeds the $1,000 threshold, subtract any actual and necessary travel expenses incurred by the filer and one relative, if the expenses are paid or reimbursed by the filer. If such expenses are paid or reimbursed by the honorarium source, they will not be counted as part of the honorarium payment.
Example to paragraphs (b)(1) and (b)(3): A filer teaches a course at a local community college, for which she receives a salary of $3,000 per year. She also received, during the previous reporting period, a $1,250 award for outstanding local community service. She must disclose both.
Note to paragraphs (c)(1) and (c)(2): For Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), brokerage accounts, trusts, mutual or pension funds, and other entities with portfolio holdings, each underlying asset must be separately disclosed, unless the entity qualifies for special treatment under paragraph (i) of this section.
Note to paragraphs (c)(3)(vii) through (ix): For purposes of this section, "diversified" means that the fund does not have a stated policy of concentrating its investments in any industry, business, single country other than the United States, or bonds of a single State within the United States and, in the case of an employee benefit plan, means that the plan's independent trustee has a written policy of varying plan investments. Whether a fund meets this standard may be determined by checking the fund's prospectus or by calling a broker or the manager of the fund.
Example 1: A filer owns a beach house which he rents out for several weeks each summer, receiving annual rental income of approximately $5,000. He must report the rental property, as well as the city and state in which it is located.
Example 2: A filer's investment portfolio consists of several stocks, U.S. Treasury bonds, several cash bank deposit accounts, an account in the Government's Thrift Savings Plan, and shares in sector mutual funds and diversified mutual funds. He must report the name of each sector mutual fund in which he owns shares, and the name of each company in which he owns stock, valued at over $1,000 at the end of the reporting period or from which he received income of more than $1,000 during the reporting period. He need not report his diversified mutual funds, U.S. Treasury bonds, bank deposit accounts, or Thrift Savings Plan holdings.
Example: A filer owes $2,500 to his mother-in-law and $12,000 to his best friend. He also has a $15,000 balance on his credit card, a $200,000 mortgage on his personal residence, and a car loan. Under the financial disclosure reporting requirements, he need not report the debt to his mother-in-law, his credit card balance, his mortgage, or his car loan. He must, however, report the debt of over $10,000 to his best friend.
Example 1: A filer holds outside positions as the trustee of his family trust, the secretary of a local political party committee, and the "Chairman" of his town's Lions Club. He also is a principal of a tutoring school on weekends. The individual must report his outside positions as trustee of the family trust and as principal of the school. He does not need to report his positions as secretary of the local political party committee or "Chairman" because each of these positions is excepted from disclosure.
Example 2: An official recently terminated her role as the managing member of a limited liability corporation upon appointment to a position in the executive branch. The managing member position must be disclosed in the official's new entrant financial disclosure report pursuant to this section.
Example 3: An official is a member of the board of his church. The official does not need to disclose the position in his financial disclosure report.
Example 4: An official is an officer in a fraternal organization that exists for the purpose of performing service work in the community. The official does not need to disclose this position in her financial disclosure report.
Example 5: An official is the ceremonial Parade Marshal for a local town's annual Founders' Day event and, in that capacity, leads a parade and serves as Master of Ceremonies for an awards ceremony at the town hall. The official does not need to disclose this position in her financial disclosure report.
Example 6: An official recently terminated his role as a campaign manager for a candidate for the Office of the President of the United States upon appointment to a noncareer position in the executive branch. The official does not need to disclose the campaign manager position in his financial disclosure report.
Example 7: Immediately prior to her recent appointment to a position in an agency, an official terminated her employment as a corporate officer. In connection with her employment, she served for several years as the corporation's representative to an incorporated association that represents members of the industry in which the corporation operates. She does not need to disclose her role as her employer's representative to the association because she performed her representative duties in her capacity as a corporate officer.
Example 8: An official holds a position on the board of directors of a local food bank. The official must disclose the position in his financial disclosure report.
Note to paragraph (f)(4): Even if the agreement is not reportable, the filer must disclose any reportable asset, such as a sector fund or a stock, held in the account.
Example 1: A filer plans to retire from Government service in eight months. She has negotiated an arrangement for part-time employment with a private-sector company, to commence upon her retirement. On her financial disclosure report, she must identify the future employer, and briefly describe the terms of, this agreement and disclose the date on which she entered into the agreement.
Example 2: A new employee has entered a position which requires the filing of a confidential form. During his Government tenure, he will continue to receive deferred compensation from his former employer and will continue to participate in its pension plan. He must report the receipt of deferred compensation and the participation in the defined benefit plan.
Example 3: An employee has a defined contribution plan with a former employer. The employer no longer makes contributions to the plan. In the account, the employee holds shares worth $15,000 in an S&P 500 Index fund and shares worth $7,000 in an U.S. Financial Services fund. The employee does not need to disclose either the agreement to continue to participate in the plan or the S&P 500 Index Fund. The employee must disclose the U.S. Financial Services Fund sector fund.
Note to paragraph (g)(2): The Office of Government Ethics sets these amounts every 3 years using the same disclosure thresholds as those for public financial disclosure filers. In 2023, the reporting thresholds were set at $480 and the aggregation threshold was set at $192. The Office of Government Ethics will update this part in 2026 and every three years thereafter to reflect the new amount.
Example 1 to paragraph (g): A filer accepts a laptop bag, a t-shirt, and a cell phone from a community service organization he has worked with solely in his private capacity. He determines that the value of these gifts is:
Gift 1-Laptop bag: $200
Gift 2-T-shirt: $20
Gift 3-Cell phone: $340
The filer must disclose Gift 1 and Gift 3 because, together, they aggregate more than $480 in value from the same source. He need not aggregate or report Gift 2 because the gift's value does not exceed $192.
Example to paragraph (h)(1): A filer's husband has a seasonal part-time job as a sales clerk at a department store, for which he receives a salary of $1,000 per year, and an honorarium of $1,250 from the state university. The filer need not report her husband's outside earned income because it did not exceed $1,000. She must, however, report the source of the honorarium because it exceeded $1,000.
Example: A filer and her husband are living apart in anticipation of divorcing. The filer need not report any information about her spouse's sole assets and liabilities, but she must continue to report their joint assets and liabilities.
Note to paragraph (h)(6): The exception described in paragraph (6) of this section is not available to most filers. One who prepares or files a joint tax return with a spouse will normally derive a financial or economic benefit from assets held by the spouse, and will also be presumed to have knowledge of such items; therefore one could not avail oneself of this exception after preparing or filing a joint tax return. If the filer and the spouse cohabitate and share household expenses, the filer will be deemed to derive an economic benefit from the item, unless the item is beyond the filer's control.
Example: The spouse of a filer has a managed account with a brokerage firm. The filer knows the account exists but the spouse does not share any information about the holdings and does not want the information disclosed on a financial disclosure statement. The filer must disclose the holdings in the spouse's managed account because the spouse shares in paying expenses (for example, household, vacation, or child related).
Note to paragraph (i)(1): Nothing in this section requires the reporting of the holdings of a revocable inter vivos trust (also known as a "living trust") with respect to which the filer, the filer's spouse or dependent child has only a remainder interest, whether or not vested, provided that the grantor of the trust is neither the filer, the filer's spouse, nor the filer's dependent child. Furthermore, nothing in this section requires the reporting of the holdings of a revocable inter vivos trust from which the filer, the filer's spouse or dependent child receives any discretionary distribution, provided that the grantor of the trust is neither the filer, the filer's spouse, nor the filer's dependent child.
Note to paragraph (i)(3): The fact that an investment fund qualifies as an excepted investment fund is not relevant to a determination as to whether the investment qualifies for an exemption to the criminal conflict of interest statute at 18 U.S.C. 208(a) , pursuant to part 2640 of this chapter. Some excepted investment funds qualify for exemptions pursuant to part 2640, while other excepted investment funds do not qualify for such exemptions. If an employee holds an excepted investment fund that is not exempt from 18 U.S.C. 208(a) , the ethics official may need additional information from the filer to determine if the holdings of the fund create a conflict of interest and should advise the employee to monitor the fund's holdings for potential conflicts of interest.
5 C.F.R. §2634.907