EAO 601

A trust is not a separate legal entity and therefore not a distinct “person” for the purposes of determining political committee status and the application of campaign finance rules generally. Therefore, the general campaign finance restrictions and reporting rules apply to the people comprising the trust, i.e., the people funding or making contribution or expenditure acceptance decisions on behalf of the trust. The people providing money to a trust and deciding how money will be spent on behalf of a trust may be treated as a Texas political committee if, just like any other group of people acting in concert, they meet the generally applicable criteria for forming a political committee. A purpose trust comprised entirely of funds from an individual is not subject to the corporate contribution ban under Section 253.093 of the Election Code and may make political contributions to candidates, officeholders, and political committees. A purpose trust that is not a political committee will be subject to the corporate contribution ban if the trust organizes itself as a corporation—even it incorporates for liability purposes only.