Overview
Tax Deduction for Donations for Families of Slain NYPD Officers
President Obama signed the Slain Officer Family Support Act (H.R. 1527), which allows taxpayers to take a charitable deduction on their 2014 tax returns for donations made between January 1 and April 15, 2015 for the “relief of the families of slain New York Police Department Detectives Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos.” The bill also provides that the deduction is allowed even if it is for the exclusive benefit of those families. Payments made by an exempt organization to the spouse or any dependent of the detectives are treated as related to the exempt organization’s purpose, and are not private inurement.
Professional Sports Leagues’ Exempt Status Investigated
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee sent letters, dated March 25, 2015, to 11 different professional sports leagues, including the National Football League, the Professional Golfers Association, and the US Tennis Association, requesting information and documents relating their status as Section 501(c)(6) organizations. The letters note that legislation has been introduced to eliminate the Section 501(c)(6) exemption for professional sports organizations, and the committee is gathering information to evaluate the exemption.