New Tax/Donations/Tickets Questions

#1
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BruinVol

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#1
I admit I am not sure I am correct on this but if I am this could be a big deal around the county regarding attendance and donations to athletic departments.


I am told Trumps new tax plan no longer allows for donations and tickets purchased for business purposes to be deductible for an individual or a business' taxes.


Is that accurate?


If so will attendance go down?


Will donations go down?
 
#2
#2
Be careful. I started a similar thread a while back, things got ugly and the thread was deleted rather quickly.
 
#3
#3
UT_VOLS13 said:
Be careful. I started a similar thread a while back, things got ugly and the thread was deleted rather quickly.
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I don't care about the politics. I want to know if it's correct and how it will effect things for universities.
It could be a big deal
 
#4
#4
I think not being able to deduct donations to university ADs (if true) will have a negative impact on donations, but the product on the field will also affect donations. So, perhaps total donations don’t decrease, but the impact of losing the deduction can’t be good for ADs.

I think this will not hurt attendance, because people can scoop up tickets to games without being donors.
 
#5
#5
BruinVol said:
I don't care about the politics. I want to know if it's correct and how it will effect things for universities.
It could be a big deal
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How about it was always just a way to buy higher priced tickets and get a tax rebate on them.
 
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#6
#6
I do not work in the accounting or tax sector, but my understanding is if you're a high net worth individual or business you can itemize your taxes and then still deduct the donation. I'm unsure of all the requirements to do so, but I'd imagine people with a lot of money, assets, accounts, etc will not be significantly affected by the change. It will probably affect more people in the middle income range who do not itemize their taxes. I know I was not able to deduct my donation for season tickets this year.
 
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#7
#7
If you're not itemizing, the standard deduction is doubled, so it is mostly a wash.
 
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#9
#9
Hopefully it will lower the donation as we are leaps and bound higher than Alabama/Auburn . 50 Yrd line seat at Bryant Denny Donation is 1600 for what we charge 2500 for. At Auburn it is 900 for pressbox side 50 yrd line seat.. Yet we suck and they crush ass. So exactly what do we spend our money on?
 
#11
#11
Denton'sGhostGBO said:
Hopefully it will lower the donation as we are leaps and bound higher than Alabama/Auburn . 50 Yrd line seat at Bryant Denny Donation is 1600 for what we charge 2500 for. At Auburn it is 900 for pressbox side 50 yrd line seat.. Yet we suck and they crush ass. So exactly what do we spend our money on?
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Unfortunately pricing is one of the few things in life that can ignore the laws of physics. What goes up doesn’t typically come back down in the world of business.
 
#12
#12
Denton'sGhostGBO said:
Hopefully it will lower the donation as we are leaps and bound higher than Alabama/Auburn . 50 Yrd line seat at Bryant Denny Donation is 1600 for what we charge 2500 for. At Auburn it is 900 for pressbox side 50 yrd line seat.. Yet we suck and they crush ass. So exactly what do we spend our money on?
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Improving the stadium so that we can ask for more money to improve the stadium so that we can ask.........
 
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#14
#14
82_VOL_83 said:
Improving the stadium so that we can ask for more money to improve the stadium so that we can ask.........
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Yeah I understand that, however, Bama has added same seats and has a complete stadium overhaul that has updated it for at least the next 15 years. So why has our donations been traditionally higher without as many improvements? We have trouble getting all our seats taken by donation, where as they have had a wait list since I first moved to tuscaloosa for school in 2005. I gladly pay it, but we seem to get less bang for the more bucks we spend.
 
#15
#15
For UT and SEC purposes....

In most instances, the lower tax rates for middle and upper class fans/donors should mitigate any changes in deductibility of these "donations". There may be more on an impact for CA schools or Northeastern schools (The loss of this deduction plus the limit on the state and local deduction may not offset the lower rates).

In the end, W and L's matter more than IRS in football attendance.
 
#16
#16
Orange&White said:
I do not work in the accounting or tax sector, but my understanding is if you're a high net worth individual or business you can itemize your taxes and then still deduct the donation. I'm unsure of all the requirements to do so, but I'd imagine people with a lot of money, assets, accounts, etc will not be significantly affected by the change. It will probably affect more people in the middle income range who do not itemize their taxes. I know I was not able to deduct my donation for season tickets this year.
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I never could but the ones that it will really effect is probably the ones paying 5K or more.
 
#17
#17
BigOrangeMojo said:
For UT and SEC purposes....

In most instances, the lower tax rates for middle and upper class fans/donors should mitigate any changes in deductibility of these "donations". There may be more on an impact for CA schools or Northeastern schools (The loss of this deduction plus the limit on the state and local deduction may not offset the lower rates

In the end, W and L's matter more than IRS in football attendance.
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You're correct it won't affect attendance, but what about donations?
 
#19
#19
Denton'sGhostGBO said:
Hopefully it will lower the donation as we are leaps and bound higher than Alabama/Auburn . 50 Yrd line seat at Bryant Denny Donation is 1600 for what we charge 2500 for. At Auburn it is 900 for pressbox side 50 yrd line seat.. Yet we suck and they crush ass. So exactly what do we spend our money on?
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It’s Tennessee... charge outrageous prices for good seats for mediocre football teams and coaches. Apparently it hasn’t bit them in the ass yet because everyone is still paying the bill. Fulmer being Ad is probably the best thing for this University did in a while.
 
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#20
#20
Grudenhaslanded said:
You're correct it won't affect attendance, but what about donations?
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At the margins, maybe but the bulk of donations come from middle and upper class households. In this part of the country, most of those households will see a 2%-4% increase in take home pay. That's more money for trips, vacations, football, investing, etc.

Again, if the product is good, donations won't suffer. If the product continues to suffer, then there will be some impact at the margins.
 
#21
#21
BigOrangeMojo said:
At the margins, maybe but the bulk of donations come from middle and upper class households. In this part of the country, most of those households will see a 2%-4% increase in take home pay. That's more money for trips, vacations, football, investing, etc.

Again, if the product is good, donations won't suffer. If the product continues to suffer, then there will be some impact at the margins.
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I would venture a guess that a large % of donations to the AD is made by a small select group of donors. I would think such a change in tax code might change their giving status significantly.
 
#22
#22
BruinVol said:
I would venture a guess that a large % of donations to the AD is made by a small select group of donors. I would think such a change in tax code might change their giving status significantly.
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Many of those donors already donate funds to the school (which is still deductible) and have charitable trusts and foundations in place already. There are lawyers and consultants (ha ha, I'm married to one of those) that will find ways around the deductibility issues. For example, in CA, they are trying to pass legislation where you can "donate" your CA tax due to a "state charity" so you can still get a charitable deduction.

I think the biggest issue will be with the upper middle class. These people don't have enough $$$$ to disregard the charity deduct, not enough $$$ to hire best consultants to work around the law and not enough $$$ to have too much pull within the AD. This would be the subset that could bail if we continue with crappy seasons.
 
#23
#23
1725gatorhater said:
It’s Tennessee... charge outrageous prices for good seats for mediocre football teams and coaches. Apparently it hasn’t bit them in the ass yet because everyone is still paying the bill. Fulmer being Ad is probably the best thing for this University did in a while.
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The amazing thing was that Fulmer was the only choice for AD, and the administration kept ignoring that fact. Football funds all athletics, so it's the important one. It's obvious that the one really big factor in running a successful football program is coach, coach, and coach. Business guys as ADs are lost when it comes to the one big task they have - finding good coaches and mentoring or otherwise assisting the one they have. It's just not that difficult, but UT thoroughly botched it with three incompetent ADs in a row.
 
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#25
#25
The charitable deduction was not abolished, although there is a lot of confusion on this.

What the recent tax law did was double the size of the personal "standard" deduction. Therefore, it is quite likely that fewer people will itemize their tax deductions, including their charitable deductions. They will instead take the standard deduction.

So, while the charitable deduction still exists, most middle and upper middle class taxpayers will no longer be able to itemize the deduction, and will not have a tax incentive to make charitable contributions.

It is believed that charitable deductions will likely decrease as a result, but nobody knows for sure.



BruinVol said:
I admit I am not sure I am correct on this but if I am this could be a big deal around the county regarding attendance and donations to athletic departments.


I am told Trumps new tax plan no longer allows for donations and tickets purchased for business purposes to be deductible for an individual or a business' taxes.


Is that accurate?


If so will attendance go down?


Will donations go down?
Click to expand...
 
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