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NFL owners gave the league's finance committee and management council the authority to change the tax status at league meetings in March, Goodell said.
Members of Congress have criticized the NFL and other professional sports leagues for withholding money from the government via the tax-exempt status,Chile Jersey.
The NBA does not have tax-exempt status, and Major League Baseball gave its up in 2007. The NHL still is tax-exempt.
Goodell forwarded his memo to Reps. Paul Ryan and Sander Levin. Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, chairs the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee; Levin, of Michigan, is that panel's ranking Democrat.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has introduced legislation to eliminate the section of the IRS code that allows leagues tax-exempt status.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, said the NFL's move "seems more like a PR stunt than a real gain. The tax-exempt status produces a pittance compared to its congressionally granted antitrust exemption — enabling billions in broadcast revenue."
In a memo to all 32 teams Tuesday, he wrote that "a change in the tax status will not alter the function or operation of the league office or Management Council in any way."
Chaffetz and Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the committee's ranking Democrat, called the NFL's decision "an important and positive step toward restoring basic fairness ... and we look forward to rightfully returning millions of dollars to the federal treasury as a result."
"The effects of the tax-exempt status of the league office have been mischaracterized repeatedly in recent years," Goodell wrote to club owners. "The fact is that the business of the NFL has never been tax exempt. Every dollar of income generated through television rights fees,Cheap Jerseys Online, licensing agreements,Discount NFL Jerseys, sponsorships, ticket sales, and other means is earned by the 32 clubs and is taxable there. This will remain the case."
Blumenthal said he would reintroduce legislation calling for a review of antitrust exemptions for the NFL, Major League Baseball, NBA and NHL.
It isn't known exactly how,Wholesale Jerseys, if at all,Wholesale Jerseys, the league's switch from tax-exempt to taxable would affect the total amount paid in taxes by the NFL, its teams and all their affiliated entities. What is clear is that Tuesday's change does not affect the NFL's antitrust exemption, created in the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961. That allows clubs to negotiate radio and TV broadcast rights together.
One result is that Goodell's compensation — about $35 million 2013, and approximately $44 million in 2012 — will no longer need to be made public.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Every so often, in a bid to sound threatening,Cheap Jerseys China, a member of Congress has vowed to revoke the NFL's tax-exempt status. Now Commissioner Roger Goodell says the league will give it up voluntarily to "eliminate this distraction."
A business of about $10 billion in annual revenues, the NFL has held tax-exempt status since the 1940s, and so was required to file a publicly available IRS form listing compensation for the highest-paid employees. Individual NFL teams do not have tax-exempt status. |
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