A 527 group is a type of American tax-exempt organization named after a section of the United States tax code, 26 U.S.C. 527. A 527 group is created primarily to influence the nomination, election, appointment or defeat of candidates for public office.

Want an exact definition? A tax-exempt group organized under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code to raise money for political activities including voter mobilization efforts, issue advocacy and the like. Currently, the FEC only requires a 527 group to file regular disclosure reports if it is a political party or political action committee (PAC) that engages in either activities expressly advocating the election or defeat of a federal candidate, or in electioneering communications. Otherwise, it must file either with the government of the state in which it is located or the Internal Revenue Service. Many 527s run by special interest groups raise unlimited "soft money," which they use for voter mobilization and certain types of issue advocacy, but not for efforts that expressly advocate the election or defeat of a federal candidate or amount to electioneering communications.

527 groups are effective because they have no limit on how much they're allowed to spend attacking the candidate of their choice. And since they're not officially associated with the campaign they like, that campaign doesn't get in trouble for the attack ad. - View comments...

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