President Obama’s '16 budget "calls for ending a long-standing and sometimes mocked tax break for buying college football tickets," according to Brian Faler of POLITICO. Under an '88 law that is "still on the books, taxpayers are allowed to take a deduction for the charitable contributions colleges sometimes require as a prerequisite for buying pricey season football tickets." The administration "estimates its plan would raise" $2.5B (POLITICO.com, 2/2). BLOOMBERG NEWS' Collins & Rubin note college sports fans currently "can deduct" 80% of the cost of such donations. The budget plan also would "end the use of tax-exempt bonds to build professional sports facilities." Debt to finance stadiums and arenas "would be taxable" if more than 10% of the location "is used for private-business use." Repealing such financing "would save" $542M from '16-25. Marcum LLP Senior Tax & Business Services Partner Robert Spielman, whose firm advises high-net-worth clients, said that while some alumni and fans "would give money to schools regardless of tax benefits, ending the deduction would hurt revenue at some sports programs." Collins & Rubin note the separate proposal in the budget to "eliminate the use of tax-exempt debt for sports facilities would affect states and municipalities that are working with professional teams to finance new or improved stadiums and arenas" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 2/3). However, REUTERS' Kevin Drawbaugh wrote Obama's plan is "not likely to become law soon." Republicans, who now control the House and the Senate, were "sharply critical of the plan within hours of its unveiling." But the budget and its proposals "draw a lot of attention each year." The NCAA "declined to comment on the priority seating tax-break proposal" (REUTERS, 2/2).
