Maybe the Senate and Congress of the United States are fans of DogLegNews.
Or not.
Whichever it might be, the PGA Tour is sweating again. So is the PGA of America.
There’s a new bill in Congress that would bust the 501 (c)(6) section of the IRS code that grants tax-exempt status to the PGA Tour, an organization that generates more than $1,000,000,000 — that’s ONE BILLION DOLLARS in annual revenues.
Not-for-profit?
Hardly.
Here’s how it shook out on Capitol Hill:
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Angus King (I-ME) introduced bipartisan legislation, the Properly Reducing Overexemptions for Sports (PRO Sports) Act, to strip multi-million dollar professional sports leagues of their tax-exempt status, saving roughly $100 million in taxpayer dollars over 10 years.
“Professional sports leagues – which are raking in millions of dollars from television rights and membership dues – shouldn’t also be scoring a hole-in-one with their taxes,” said Senator Ernst. “The PRO Sports Act amends the tax code to revoke this unnecessary exemption, saving approximately $100 million in taxpayer dollars over 10 years. Senator King and I are cutting this wasteful spending and protecting taxpayer dollars.”
The PRO Sports Act would revoke the 501(c)(6), tax-exempt status of professional sports leagues with over $10 million in gross receipts. While some leagues have voluntarily ended their tax-exempt status in recent years, others continue to use this loophole while bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.
“Sports leagues like the NHL and the PGA Tour provide entertainment for millions of Americans, but that doesn’t mean these league-specific brands should be able to utilize Section 501(c)(6) of the tax code to be tax exempt,” said Senator King. “This bill would help close loopholes that allow leagues to boost their profits at the expense of taxpayers – it’s just common sense.”
The announcement immediately sent shivers up the spine of PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monhan and his henchmen at PGA Tour Headquarters.
Maybe the folks in Congress got a glimpse of the renderings for the new $81 million building that is scheduled for completion in 2020 and will house Monahan and his scores of henchmen.
Last go-round, the tour called on Jack Nicklaus to call key players on Capitol Hill and beg, errr, lobby for the tour’s not-for-profit status to stay in tact.
It wouldn’t be the end of the world, all it would mean is that the PGA Tour can start pay taxes like the rest of the hard-working Americans across the land.
4 Comments
baxter cepeda
I would hope no one in Congress is reading journalism which name calls subjects (ie Tont).
I really do not understand why you or anyone would want to ruin all the good the PGA Tour does with its tax exwmpt statis. All so all that money can get lost in our system.
My belief is If you get your way and the tour loses its tax exemtions, the only losers will be all the charities, communities and maybe the journeymen on tour. All the big people will still get theirs. They always do.
Tom Edrington
Baxter, obviously you did not see the PGA Tour’s tax return that ran here on DogLeg….the Tour generates more than ONE BILLION in revenue…..It is the tour, not the local charities and organizations running the tournaments that needs to pay taxes……Organizations like the Salesmanship Club, Thunderbirds, etc. are legitimate 501-c3s……the PGA Tour owns and charges $500 a head to play the TPC Stadium course and just signed a huge deal to generate well over a billion dollars to stream its stuff in Europe…..you, like so many, have been duped by the PGA Tour.
baxter cepeda
Anyone paying 500$ for sawgrass is a fool whom deserves to be robbed tax free.
Tom Edrington
Generally, all of those TPC courses charge very high fees, in keeping with the PGA Tour’s “total greed” theme……they should pay taxes