Navigating 2026 Compliance: Key Dates and Obligations for Federal Filers
Federal lobbyists, PACs and other filers may have additional filing obligations for this 2026 election year. See the easy-to-follow chart to help determine when a federal report may be due.
2026 Federal Lobby Reporting
- Quarterly LD-2 Reports are used to disclose quarterly federal lobbying activity.
- Semi-Annual LD-203 Reports are used to disclose federal contributions and related costs that the lobby organization or the lobbyists personally give during the time period.
2026 Federal Election Commission Reporting (for PACs and other filers (non-candidate campaign committees))
- Form 3X is used to disclose all PAC activity for the time period. All receipts and disbursements should be accounted for and timely filed. The FEC does not make exceptions for weekends or holidays.
Form 5 Filers – knowns as “other filers” includes individuals and unregistered 527 organizations that makes independent expenditures that aggregate more than $250 per office sought. Once the threshold is made, the Form 5 Filers are required to file to disclose the activity according to the quarterly report schedule and any applicable 24/48 hour report.
Notes:
*1/30/27 falls on a weekend, LDA reports are due the following Monday.
** FEC Quarterly Filers are required to file quarterly and any applicable Pre-Primary Reports when a contribution is made to a candidate running in the 2026 election(s).
*** The 12-Day Pre-General Report is only required for quarterly filers if they have contributed to a candidate running in the 2026 General Election during the timeframe of the report (10/1/26-10/14/26), if not, the 30 Day Post-General Report will cover 10/1-11/23).
