ECIElection Campaign-Finance Index

§ 12³ of the Political Parties Act sets the donation framework in statute — only natural persons who are citizens or long-term residents may donate, legal-person donations are prohibited, and cash donations are capped at 1200 euros per financial year.

“A political party is allowed to accept cash donations from a natural person to the extent of up to 1200 euros per financial year.”

§ 12³(2) codifies the treatment of third-party spending — payment of a political party's expenses by third parties is a prohibited donation, so independent expenditure on a party's behalf is regulated as, and folded into, the donation regime.

“payment of the expenses of a political party by third parties for the political party”

§ 12³(2) expressly prohibits anonymous donations, and § 12⁴ codifies the disposition of any prohibited donation — immediate return to the donor or, failing that, transfer to the state budget.

“1) anonymous donations;”

§ 12¹ of the Political Parties Act sets the disclosure regime entirely in statute — a political party must ensure complete transparency of revenue and expenditure, and § 12¹(7) requires every donation to be reported regardless of amount, so disclosure applies from the first euro rather than above a threshold.

“A political party must, in accordance with the principle of democracy, ensure the lawfulness and complete transparency of its revenue and expenditure at least in the manner prescribed in this chapter.”

Estonia enumerates a multi-part filing schedule with specific deadlines — an election campaign report within one month of election day (§ 12⁸), quarterly revenue and expenditure reports by the tenth day of the following month (§ 12¹), and an annual report by 30 June (§ 12⁹).

“The report is submitted to the political party funding supervision committee in the required form within one month from the election day.”

§ 12¹(7) requires each donation to be reported with the donor's name and personal identification code — a unique national identifier — plus the value and date. Every donor is fully identified by name and national ID; employer/occupation fields are not used because legal-person donations are prohibited entirely.

“With regard to a donation a political party will indicate that it is a donation and indicate the name and personal identification code of the donator and the value and the date of accrual of the donation.”

§ 12¹(4) and § 12⁸(1) require the quarterly funding reports and the election campaign report to be published on the website of the political party funding supervision committee — codified public online access.

“The report will be published on the website of the political party funding supervision committee.”

§§ 12¹⁷–12¹⁹ codify a misdemeanour penalty schedule — fines of up to 300 fine units for natural persons or 20 000 euros for legal persons for reporting failures, prohibited donations and false information — alongside the administrative non-compliance levy of up to 15 000 euros under § 12¹².

“is a fine of up to 300 fine units.”

§ 12¹⁰ codifies the independence of the Political Party Funding Supervision Committee — members appointed by the Chancellor of Justice, the Auditor General, the National Electoral Committee and a Riigikogu party (the latter barred from being an MP or minister), each serving a fixed five-year term.

“a member appointed by the Chancellor of Justice;”

No matching sections in corpus (FTS returned 0 candidates) — concept not codified in this jurisdiction's election statute.

§ 12³ restricts donations to natural persons who are Estonian citizens or hold permanent residence / long-term-resident status, and § 12³(2) expressly prohibits donations by aliens — a direct statutory ban on foreign-source contributions.

“8) donations by aliens, except for donations by persons holding the permanent right of residence or the status of a long-term resident in Estonia.”

§ 12³(2) closes indirect channels structurally — conduit donations 'made via a natural person and at the expense of the assets of a third party' are prohibited, and all legal-person donations are banned outright, so there is no corporate vehicle through which foreign money could pass and ownership tracing is unnecessary.

“7) donation made via a natural person and at the expense of the assets of a third party;”

No matching sections in corpus (FTS returned 0 candidates) — concept not codified in this jurisdiction's election statute.

§ 12¹⁷ codifies and penalty-backs the obligation to maintain a register of donations made to a political party, and § 12¹¹ empowers the supervision committee to demand documents — record-keeping is statutorily required, though a specific retention period is not enumerated in these provisions.

“the obligation to maintain a register of donations made to a political party”

§ 12¹⁰ empowers the Political Party Funding Supervision Committee to demand that a political party, election coalition or single candidate undergo a special audit — the auditor drawn by lot from the register of certified auditors — and § 12⁹ makes the annual-report audit mandatory for state-funded parties.

“the political party funding supervision committee has the right to demand that a political party, an election coalition or a single candidate undergo a special audit.”