Senator Coburn Continues Assault On PGA Tour Practices

John Strege reports that Oklahoma Republican Senator Tom Coburn has released his annual "Wastebook" of 100 examples highlighting 100 examples of wasteful and low priority spending.

Following ESPN's Outside the Lines report, Coburn has a newfound love for the PGA Tour's practices.

"Despite generating over $900 million in revenue, the PGA Tour classifies itself exempt from federal income taxes on earnings," it states on page 71 of the 177-page report. "Eliminating the ability for the PGA to claim tax-exempt status could result in nearly $10 million in increases [in] federal revenue annually. Taxpayers should not be asked to subsidize sports organizations already benefiting widely from willing fans and turning a profit, while claiming to be non-profit organizations."

Most interesting this time around is how Coburn's report focuses on the PGA Tour's retirement package, laying out the backstory as to how the program developed and why he views it as a scam of sorts.

Digging taxpayers further into the golf subsidy sand trap, in 2004 Congress created yet another tax loophole for golfing superstars, who bring home millions of dollars in tournament winnings every year.

With passage of the 2004 American Jobs Creation Act, Congress granted the PGA an exemption for its unique deferred compensation structure, which allows a portion of player winnings to be put into a tax-free account based on their performance. The 2004 American Jobs Creation Act limited the use of certain types of compensation packages used to avoid taxes, but exempted the professional golfers receiving compensation packages from the PGA, further reducing their immediate tax liability.

The full cost of these handouts to the professional golfing industry are unknown because of the clever and cryptic nature of the tax loopholes. Yet, it is clear taxpayers lose more than $10 million every year, likely more, subsidizing some of the highest paid athletes in the world.