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Post Published: Apr 21, 2016

Chaffetz, Cummings Issue Statement on News The NFL Will Waive Tax Exempt Status

WASHINGTON – Today, in response to news that the National Football League (NFL) plans to voluntarily waive their tax-exempt status and file tax returns as a taxable entity for fiscal year 2015, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (UT-03) and Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (MD-7) issued the following statement.

“We are extremely pleased with the decision from the NFL to waive its tax-exempt status. Congress has tried to tackle this issue before but we made it one of the Committee’s signature efforts this year. It is rewarding to see such an important and positive step toward restoring basic fairness so quickly into our tenure. We hope that the other professional sports organizations in similar situations will follow the positive example set by the NFL and pay their taxes just as everyone else is required to do. We thank the NFL for their leadership and look forward to rightfully returning millions of dollars to the federal treasury as a result.”

Earlier this year, Chaffetz and Cummings sent letters to various professional sports leagues requesting information related to each organization’s tax-exempt status. Additionally, Chairman Chaffetz introduced legislation earlier this year that would eliminate the 501 (c)(6) tax-exemption for professional sports organizations with annual revenues over $10 million.