Sen. Ron Wyden wants to remove the PGA’s tax exempt status. Why is that a good thing?

Should his proposed legislation be passed, it would result in golf’s most recognizable league being stripped of its tax-exempt status. As one can imagine, that would have serious repercussions for all involved going forward.

PGA Tour targeted by Sen. Ron Wyden

According to reports, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), chair of the Senate finance committee, introduced two bills on Wednesday: the ‘Sports League Tax-Exempt Status Limitation Act’ and the ‘Ending Tax Breaks for Massive Sovereign Wealth Funds Act.’ Why is that important? If you didn’t know, the PGA Tour is a 501(c)(6) organization, which means it enjoys a status allowing tax exemptions for professional sports leagues and chambers of commerce. Now, what’s interesting here is the source of Wyden’s concern which appears to be the proposed framework of the aforementioned merger with LIV Golf indicating that a singular for-profit organization would be created. It stands to reason that such a move would run afoul of the required criteria for tax exemption.

“Most of America’s big pro sports leagues gave up their tax exemptions voluntarily when their revenues climbed into the stratosphere, and they hadn’t even shamed themselves with Saudi blood money,” Wyden said. “An organization that betrays its own word and agrees to become a profit generator for Saudi Arabia’s brutal regime has disqualified itself for a tax exemption.” To say it doesn’t get any clearer than that would be stating the obvious.

Some details about Ron Wyden’s proposed legislation

Where the Sports League Tax-Exempt Status Limitation Act is concerned, what’s understood is that it would adjust the current tax code to exclude sports organizations with assets exceeding $500 million. As for the Ending Tax Breaks for Massive Sovereign Wealth Funds Act, it’s aim would be to would deny that benefit to funds belonging to countries that have more than $100 billion invested globally. “Many of the biggest sovereign wealth funds out there belong to countries that do not have our interests at heart, and there’s no good reason for hardworking American taxpayers to have to subsidize their huge profits,” Wyden said. For the purpose of context, this is the same Senator Wyden who just last month opened an investigation into the financial structure and implications of the proposed PGA Tour-Saudi deal, as he cited censorship and national security concerns due to the close proximity between the tour’s real estate holdings and U.S. military sites.