GENERAL QUESTIONS ABOUT FILING

• Why must I file this report?
  
  
• How is the information that I report used?
  
  
• Can information about my spouse and dependent children be redacted from my SF-278 Form if it’s released to the public?
  
  
• What periods of time have to be covered on the report?  For example, do I have to list a stock I bought 10 years ago and list all of my former employers?
  
  
• Where do I send my form after I fill it out?
  
  
• Even after reading the FAQ page, I still have some questions.  Whom do I contact for assistance?

MUTUAL FUNDS, STOCKS & PARTNERSHIPS

• Do I need to report mutual funds?
  
  
• Do I need to provide the name of the exact mutual fund I hold, or can I simply identify it by a family of funds?
  
  
• Am I required to report IRA accounts?
  
  
• How should I describe stocks, bonds, and other securities?
  
  
• How do I report stock options purchased through a brokerage account?
  
  
• I hold an interest in a limited partnership – how do I report this?  How do I report a distribution I have received?
  
  
• I have an interest in an investment partnership.  What do I do if I don’t know the partnership’s underlying assets?

REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS

• My wife and I have a vacation home.  Do I have to include it on the form?
  
  
• I own farmland in Montana that currently is not producing any income.  Do I have to report it?

MISCELLANEOUS ASSETS

• I have several accounts (i.e. savings, checking, money market) in a local bank.  I also have Certificates of Deposit from the same bank.  How should they be listed on my report?
  
  
• I owned several Treasury securities that matured this past year.  How do I report them?
  
  
• Should I report a variable life insurance policy?

INTERESTS FROM FORMER EMPLOYMENT

• How do I report a 401(k) plan and defined benefit plan with my former employer?
  
  
• Last year I was awarded a $20,000 bonus from the company for which I worked.  How do I report this?
  
  
• I am on a leave of absence from a university.  Do I have to report TIAA-CREF holdings in a retirement plan with the university?
  
  
• I am leaving my private sector employer with vested and unvested stock options.  Do I have to report these options?

INCOME FROM BOOKS & SPEECHES

• Do I have to report income I have received from article and books that I have written?
  
  
• Over the past year, I have given various speeches though the Washington DC Speakers Bureau.  How do I report the income?

FILING REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO SPOUSES & CHILDREN

• My spouse works in a doctor’s office.  Do I report her salary the same way I report my own salary?
  
  
• In addition to my spouse’s primary job, she also has a small catering business that she runs from our home.  Do I have to include this on the form?
  
  
• I am separated from my spouse.  Do I need to report his assets?
  
  
• My spouse and I live together, but we manage our finances separately.  Do I need to report my spouse’s assets?
  
  
• Do I need to report assets and income for a child who is a college student?
• I have a 529 account for my son.  How do I report it?

TRANSACTIONS OF ASSETS

• How do I report transactions related to stock options?
  
  
• I buy shares of a mutual fund every month.  Do I have to list each one of these purchases as a separate line item on Schedule B, Part I?

GIFTS

• I received some free tickets from my neighbor to a Dallas Cowboys game.  Do the tickets have to be listed?
  
  
• During the year, I attended two receptions sponsored by a trade association.  The association did not charge anyone to attend one of the events.  The second event was $500 per ticket, but the association didn’t charge me anything.  My agency gave me permission to go.  Do I have to report my attendance as a gift?  If so, how should I determine the value of my attendance?
  
  
• Schedule B, Part II instructs me to report travel-related reimbursements and gifts totaling more than $305 (the “aggregation threshold”) from any one source during the reporting period.  It also instructs me that I do not have to report any item valued at $122 or less, nor do I even include such an item in calculating the aggregation threshold.  Where do these numbers come from?

LIABILITIES

• Do loans from banks, mortgage companies, and credit card companies have to be listed on the report?

POSITIONS

• I am on the Board of Directors of my condo association.  Do I have to report that position even though it couldn’t be a conflict with my job?
  
  
• My husband is the President of our son’s PTA.  Does this position have to be reported?

CLIENTS & SOURCES OF COMPENSATION

• My spouse and I work for the same law firm.  I am leaving the firm for a government position.  Do I have to report my clients?  How about my spouse’s clients?
  
  
• I am employed part-time as a professor at a local college.  I’m paid only $500 for teaching one class.  Do I have to list the college on my report?