The NFL announced April 28 that it would waive its tax exempt status for fiscal 2015 – and the members of Congress overseeing the league couldn’t be happier.
Reps. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the chairman and ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said in a statement they were “extremely pleased” with the decision.
“Congress has tried to tackle this issue before, but we made it one of our Committee’s priorities this year. It is rewarding to see such an important and positive step toward restoring basic fairness,” they said in a joint statement.
Chaffetz and Cummings had sent letters to various sports leagues asking for information regarding their tax exempt status. While NFL teams already pay taxes, the NFL league office has claimed tax-exempt status.
Chaffetz also introduced legislation earlier in the year that would eliminate the tax-exemption for any professional sports organization with $10 million or more in annual revenue.
“We hope other professional sports organizations in similar situations will follow the positive example set by the NFL, and we look forward to rightfully returning millions of dollars to the federal treasury as a result. We thank Commissioner Goodell and the NFL for their leadership,” they said in a statement.
