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The NFL Is A Tax-Exempt Organization — But One Senator Wants To Change That

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The NFL Is A Tax-Exempt Organization -- But One Senator Wants To Change That | ThinkProgress

Since 1966, the tax code has allowed leagues to classify as 501(c)(6) charitable organizations — a classification used by trade and industry organizations — under the assumption that the leagues were promoting the general value of their sports. But Coburn’s amendment asserts that the leagues are not non-profits engaged in the promotion of their sports but instead are businesses interested solely in the promotion of their business; that is, the NFL isn’t so much concerned about promoting the general sport of football as it is concerned with promoting NFL football, because it is the NFL brand and the NFL teams and logos and products that make it a profitable business. The NFL, for instance, didn’t seem interested in promoting the general spread of football when a competitor league, the United States Football League, was formed in 1983. Likewise, the PGA Tour, NHL, and other sports leagues serve to promote their brand of their sports, not the sport as a whole.

Wow, the things you learn. One of the biggest most profitable sports businesses out there is tax exempt. They are considered a charity. What I am amazed about is that few people seem to actually care that we have missed out on billions of dollars of tax revenue from professional sports businesses posing as NFPs. What charity is this? the help the steroid addicted rage machines to have billions of dollars charity? Oh, and before anyone blames Obama for this, it seems to have been around since 1966. This is not a church, or an organization that is going to be destroyed by a little taxation. These professional sports organizations have not only been skirting their tax responsibilities, but also taking advantage of taxpayer payouts, forcing cable and satellite companies to charge every one of their customers for sports networks they may never watch, and occasionally causing riots in our streets and certainly a fair share of bar fights every week.

How is it that no one in our government up until now has thought to tax these professional sports leagues? These are not amateur or rec leagues that help provide activities for a community, these are pro sports with pure business motives. We need tax revenue, and they get huge benefits from being in america where many of these sports are insanely popular. This should be a no brainer for an amendment, so who out here agrees with me that this amendment to the tax code will get shot down by both sides?
 
Tax em'! It's about time players/coaches/managers stopped making > six figures.
 
Sure. Tax them.
But not just them. Tax all of them. basketball, baseball, etc if they are exempt from taxes too.
 
The NFL Is A Tax-Exempt Organization -- But One Senator Wants To Change That | ThinkProgress



Wow, the things you learn. One of the biggest most profitable sports businesses out there is tax exempt. They are considered a charity. What I am amazed about is that few people seem to actually care that we have missed out on billions of dollars of tax revenue from professional sports businesses posing as NFPs. What charity is this? the help the steroid addicted rage machines to have billions of dollars charity? Oh, and before anyone blames Obama for this, it seems to have been around since 1966. This is not a church, or an organization that is going to be destroyed by a little taxation. These professional sports organizations have not only been skirting their tax responsibilities, but also taking advantage of taxpayer payouts, forcing cable and satellite companies to charge every one of their customers for sports networks they may never watch, and occasionally causing riots in our streets and certainly a fair share of bar fights every week.

How is it that no one in our government up until now has thought to tax these professional sports leagues? These are not amateur or rec leagues that help provide activities for a community, these are pro sports with pure business motives. We need tax revenue, and they get huge benefits from being in america where many of these sports are insanely popular. This should be a no brainer for an amendment, so who out here agrees with me that this amendment to the tax code will get shot down by both sides?

I LOVE my football, but....

Definitely tax them! I had no idea the NFL was considered a charity. Players are signing contracts in the NFL for over 100 million dollars left and right, all to run up and down a field and fight over a ball. There are professions which contribute much more to society such as a doctor for example, which do not come with that kind of salary.
 
Tax em'! It's about time players/coaches/managers stopped making > six figures.

Are you saying players/coaches/managers don't pay taxes?
 
The NFL Is A Tax-Exempt Organization -- But One Senator Wants To Change That | ThinkProgress



Wow, the things you learn. One of the biggest most profitable sports businesses out there is tax exempt. They are considered a charity. What I am amazed about is that few people seem to actually care that we have missed out on billions of dollars of tax revenue from professional sports businesses posing as NFPs. What charity is this? the help the steroid addicted rage machines to have billions of dollars charity? Oh, and before anyone blames Obama for this, it seems to have been around since 1966. This is not a church, or an organization that is going to be destroyed by a little taxation. These professional sports organizations have not only been skirting their tax responsibilities, but also taking advantage of taxpayer payouts, forcing cable and satellite companies to charge every one of their customers for sports networks they may never watch, and occasionally causing riots in our streets and certainly a fair share of bar fights every week.

How is it that no one in our government up until now has thought to tax these professional sports leagues? These are not amateur or rec leagues that help provide activities for a community, these are pro sports with pure business motives. We need tax revenue, and they get huge benefits from being in america where many of these sports are insanely popular. This should be a no brainer for an amendment, so who out here agrees with me that this amendment to the tax code will get shot down by both sides?

The NFL is a charity? No kidding?

Who comes up with nonsense like that?

Could it be a congressman or two who have been purchased by the NFL, I wonder?
 
Tax em'! It's about time players/coaches/managers stopped making > six figures.

The salaries of players are taxed and they're still going to make millions because you will pay millions to watch them.
 
Tax em'! It's about time players/coaches/managers stopped making > six figures.

Just an FYI paid employees of charities do get taxed on their income. It is the organization themselves who pay no taxes on their massive income. They also can get tax free land. Things like team logos and the NFL logos are licensed out for profit where it would seem that their icons should be used to promote the sport under the "idea" of the bill rather than as a profit making method for the owners. To put forth an example the christian church does not license out their cross icon for profit. It is allowed to be manufactured and used as a promotion even when the ideals of the promoters might not correspond to the ideals of christianity. The NFL and it's teams have their logos and symbols which you have to pay to use legally. There is nothing that is going to stop the outlandish salaries a player or coach makes simply because they are entertainers and they clearly do entertain millions of people. The organizations that employ them should have to pay taxes based on the commerce they enjoy in the american market. Since wer do suffer from the problems created by pro-sports arenas it would be great if they paid their share.
 
the NFL is tax exempt.... but the teams are not. ..nor are the owners ,employees,or players (the players union is tax exempt,though)
 
Not only are they tax exempt but I'm pretty sure MLB is immune to lawsuits, and that goes back to when it was more popular than football. If they get taxed, it may lower salaries, so in a way it does currently benefit the athletes/coaches, but not as much as you'd expect. A lot of teams operate in the red or close to it. Their owners are billionaires who will take the financial hit to have their personal toy.
 
They should be taxed. Taxpayers pay way too much for their stadiums as it is.
 
Does that then make tickets tax deductable too as charitable contributions?
 
i'd be pretty happy if they just paid for their own stadiums / upkeep. given that this will never happen, taxing the league seems an acceptable alternative.

i admit that i'm tired of paying local taxes for entertainment that i don't care about in the least. the only thing that annoys me more is the portion of my cable bill that goes to sports. i have watched ESPN a total of ten minutes in the past 14 years. i would drop it in a heartbeat of exchange it for HBO if given the option.
 
I have to side with the "tax the greedy bastards into the ground" crowd on this one. It's absolutely nuts that the NFL is a non-profit orginization. This blows me away!
 
They shouldn't be taxed. If they are not profiting directly then theres nothing to tax. If they are a business, then they are passing down the taxes in prices, so they aren't paying taxes anyway. No group should be taxed, only individuals.
 
They're already a monopoly and dupe local governments into building stadiums for them, wondering how many more privileges they get to keep?
 
The NFL Is A Tax-Exempt Organization -- But One Senator Wants To Change That | ThinkProgress



Wow, the things you learn. One of the biggest most profitable sports businesses out there is tax exempt. They are considered a charity. What I am amazed about is that few people seem to actually care that we have missed out on billions of dollars of tax revenue from professional sports businesses posing as NFPs. What charity is this? the help the steroid addicted rage machines to have billions of dollars charity? Oh, and before anyone blames Obama for this, it seems to have been around since 1966. This is not a church, or an organization that is going to be destroyed by a little taxation. These professional sports organizations have not only been skirting their tax responsibilities, but also taking advantage of taxpayer payouts, forcing cable and satellite companies to charge every one of their customers for sports networks they may never watch, and occasionally causing riots in our streets and certainly a fair share of bar fights every week.

How is it that no one in our government up until now has thought to tax these professional sports leagues? These are not amateur or rec leagues that help provide activities for a community, these are pro sports with pure business motives. We need tax revenue, and they get huge benefits from being in america where many of these sports are insanely popular. This should be a no brainer for an amendment, so who out here agrees with me that this amendment to the tax code will get shot down by both sides?

Tax them for sure.
 
They shouldn't be taxed. If they are not profiting directly then theres nothing to tax. If they are a business, then they are passing down the taxes in prices, so they aren't paying taxes anyway. No group should be taxed, only individuals.

Leaked NFL Documents: While Owner Cried Hardship, Carolina Panthers Had $112 Million Profit Over Two Years [UPDATE]

Economy in NFL History

Most Profitable Sports Leagues - AskMen

NFL Rakes In Super Bowl Profits, Gets Non-Profit Tax Exemptions – IVN

NFL Owners May Have Misled Players About Team Profits To Pay Them Less | ThinkProgress

We already tax businesses severely less profitable than the NFL.
 
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They shouldn't be taxed. If they are not profiting directly then theres nothing to tax. If they are a business, then they are passing down the taxes in prices, so they aren't paying taxes anyway. No group should be taxed, only individuals.

Leaked NFL Documents: While Owner Cried Hardship, Carolina Panthers Had $112 Million Profit Over Two Years [UPDATE]

Economy in NFL History

Most Profitable Sports Leagues - AskMen

NFL Rakes In Super Bowl Profits, Gets Non-Profit Tax Exemptions – IVN

NFL Owners May Have Misled Players About Team Profits To Pay Them Less | ThinkProgress

Not a business my a**.
 
All of those article say the same thing, that the individual team franchises are profitable. The NFL itself, isn't.
They point out that the NFL operates as a business. Not a charitable organization.
 
They point out that the NFL operates as a business. Not a charitable organization.

Quote it. And its not a charitable organization. That is only one form of 501c6. Its simply a non profit, specifically a trade association.
501(c)(6)

501(c)(6) organizations include Business Leagues, Home Builders Association, Chambers of Commerce, Real Estate Boards, etc. such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce political action committee and the National Football League.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/501(c)#501.28c.29.286.29
 
They point out that the NFL operates as a business. Not a charitable organization.

IRC 501(c)(6) provides for exemption of business leagues, chambers of commerce, real estate boards, boards of trade, and professional football leagues… which are not organized for profit and no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.

The National Football League operates as a 501(c)6 non-profit association and has operated that way since the 1960s. This in no way means the NFL is a stranger to profit. It is in fact one of the most profitable sports leagues in the United States, making over $9 billion in profits from 2011 to 2012, according to Business Insider.
 
IRC 501(c)(6) provides for exemption of business leagues, chambers of commerce, real estate boards, boards of trade, and professional football leagues… which are not organized for profit and no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.

The National Football League operates as a 501(c)6 non-profit association and has operated that way since the 1960s. This in no way means the NFL is a stranger to profit. It is in fact one of the most profitable sports leagues in the United States, making over $9 billion in profits from 2011 to 2012, according to Business Insider.

Read closer, they are talking about the individual teams, which do pay taxes. The "NFL" 501c6 does not profit.
 
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