Winding down costs. Winding down costs are costs associated with the termination of political activity related to a candidate's seeking his or her nomination for election, such as the costs of complying with the post election requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act and the Presidential Primary Matching Payment Account Act, and other necessary administrative costs associated with winding down the campaign, including office space rental, staff salaries, and office supplies. Winding down costs are qualified campaign expenses.

Winding down limitation. The total amount of winding down costs that may be paid for, in whole or part, with matching funds shall not exceed the lesser of:

10% of the overall expenditure limitation pursuant to 11 CFR 9035.1; or

10% of the total of:

The candidate's expenditures subject to the overall expenditure limitation as of the candidate's date of ineligibility; plus

The candidate's expenses exempt from the expenditure limitations as of the candidate's date of ineligibility; except that

The winding down limitation shall be no less than $100,000.

Allocation of primary and general election winding down costs. A candidate who runs in both the primary and general election may divide winding down expenses between his or her primary and general election committees using any reasonable allocation method. An allocation method is reasonable if it divides the total winding down costs between the primary and general election committees and results in no less than one third of total winding down costs allocated to each committee. A candidate may demonstrate than an allocation method is reasonable even if either the primary or the general election committee is allocated less than one third of total winding down costs.

Primary winding down costs during the general election period. A primary election candidate who does not run in the general election may receive and use matching funds for these purposes either after he or she has notified the Commission in writing of his or her withdrawal from the campaign for nomination or after the date of the party's nominating convention, if he or she has not withdrawn before the convention. A primary election candidate who runs in the general election, regardless of whether the candidate receives public funds for the general election, must wait until 31 days after the general election before using any matching funds for winding down costs related to the primary election. No expenses incurred by a primary election candidate who runs in the general election prior to 31 days after the general election shall be considered primary winding down costs.