Why is the NFL Tax Exempt?

(Before It's News)

Did you know that the United States somehow classifies the National Football League as a tax-exempt non-profit? How can it be you ask, that such a massively prosperous entity which makes billions of dollars each year, and pays its executives many tens of millions of dollars, does not have to pay taxes?

Why is the NFL Tax Exempt?

Back in 1966 the US tax code was altered to give “professional football leagues” special IRS treatment, but that flawed policy is now being seriously challenged. Last year Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn introduced legislation to no longer allow professional sports leagues to qualify as non-profit organizations. Senator Coburn claims that by subsidizing groups like the NFL and NHL, we taxpayers are losing nearly $100 million dollars in revenue every year due to their tax-exempt status:

“The National Football League (NFL), the National Hockey League (NHL), and the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) classify themselves as non-profit organizations to exempt themselves from federal income taxes on earnings. Smaller sports leagues, such as the National Lacrosse League, are also using the tax status. Taxpayers may be losing at least $91 million subsidizing these tax loopholes for professional sports leagues that generate billions of dollars annually in profits. Taxpayers should not be asked to subsidize sports organizations already benefiting widely from willing fans and turning a profit, while claiming to be non-profit organizations.”

The egregiousness of such flawed tax policy seems like it warrants some serious debate, though most people seem oblivious to the special status still maintained by many professional sports leagues. The political cartoonist Keith Knight recently drew a very insightful comic on this topic; here is a portion of the strip, which you can view in its entirety on his K Chronicles website.

Why our nation still chooses to subsidize billionaires like the NFL and petrochemical companies, while slashing basic food aid to our most impoverished citizens, remains to me a most compelling mystery.

The post Why is the NFL Tax Exempt? appeared first on EcoLocalizer.

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