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The NFL's tax-exempt status?
Last edited Thu Jan 30, 2014, 10:33 PM - Edit history (1)
By The Denver Post Editorial Board
Every year at this time, indignant news stories surface about the National Football League's tax-exempt status.
The NFL, after all, is an incredibly lucrative outfit that pays its commissioner a $30 million salary.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.
, is pushing a bill to strip professional sports organizations of that tax-exempt status, calling it a loophole that amounts to about $10 million in lost revenue annually and up to $109 million over 1o years.
We think Coburn's bill makes sense — not because tax-exempt status is preposterous on its face but because of the NFL's bloated front-office salaries.
The NFL is classified under Section 501(c)(6) of the tax code, which exempts any organization whose primary purpose is to further the industry or profession it represents. Trade organizations typically get this exemption. So do the NFL, NHL and other pro sports organizations.
The NFL league office represents 32 teams, which make billions of dollars on ticket sales, TV contracts, etc. That money is taxable.
However, the league office that is not-for-profit earns its money not from lucrative TV deals but through its membership dues — which accounted for just over a quarter of a billion dollars in revenue in 2012. That money pays for league office salaries, rent and officiating.
The hitch in the NFL's defense of this structure is those salaries. Compensation for the eight top executives alone totaled $57 million in 2012.
Those sky-high salaries legitimize Coburn's reform effort.
But the NFL exempt status is really a periphery issue when the real problem is the country's tax code needs a comprehensive overhaul.
Read more: Throwing a flag on the NFL's tax-exempt status - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/editorials/ci_25030440/throwing-flag-nfls-tax-exempt-status#ixzz2rw8hTeSr
Every year at this time, indignant news stories surface about the National Football League's tax-exempt status.
The NFL, after all, is an incredibly lucrative outfit that pays its commissioner a $30 million salary.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.
, is pushing a bill to strip professional sports organizations of that tax-exempt status, calling it a loophole that amounts to about $10 million in lost revenue annually and up to $109 million over 1o years.
We think Coburn's bill makes sense — not because tax-exempt status is preposterous on its face but because of the NFL's bloated front-office salaries.
The NFL is classified under Section 501(c)(6) of the tax code, which exempts any organization whose primary purpose is to further the industry or profession it represents. Trade organizations typically get this exemption. So do the NFL, NHL and other pro sports organizations.
The NFL league office represents 32 teams, which make billions of dollars on ticket sales, TV contracts, etc. That money is taxable.
However, the league office that is not-for-profit earns its money not from lucrative TV deals but through its membership dues — which accounted for just over a quarter of a billion dollars in revenue in 2012. That money pays for league office salaries, rent and officiating.
The hitch in the NFL's defense of this structure is those salaries. Compensation for the eight top executives alone totaled $57 million in 2012.
Those sky-high salaries legitimize Coburn's reform effort.
But the NFL exempt status is really a periphery issue when the real problem is the country's tax code needs a comprehensive overhaul.
Read more: Throwing a flag on the NFL's tax-exempt status - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/editorials/ci_25030440/throwing-flag-nfls-tax-exempt-status#ixzz2rw8hTeSr
Don't forget - the teams are taxed.
| 2 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited | |
| End the exemption | |
1 (50%) |
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| Don't end the exemption | |
0 (0%) |
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| I don't care | |
1 (50%) |
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