Washington State Stadium Rebate Bill
Now is a good time to let our professional sports teams help us out by collecting Washington State sales taxes from foreign corporations.
T-Mobile is actually a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom.
The Stadium Rebate Tax Bill taxes Major League Professional Sports clubs that sell or rent naming rights (T-Mobile Park and Luman Field) and then returns the tax revenue to municipal and state governments.
A little extra in sales tax revenue from foreign corporations would be helpful to Washington State citizens.
The Washington State Stadium Naming Rights Rebate Tax Bill (Stadium Rebate Bill – a proposed bill)
A). Each Major League Baseball club and National Football League team in Washington State shall pay a 6.5% sales tax for professional stadium naming rights sold or rented.
B). Tax collection: The Washington State Department of Revenue shall be responsible for collecting the Stadium Naming Rights Rebate Tax.
The Washington State Department of Revenue shall remit the Stadium Naming Rights tax revenue to the state and municipal governments that issued federally tax-exempt bonds for each stadium.
The Washington State Department of Revenue shall receive the Stadium Naming Rights Rebate Tax on an annual basis using existing Washington State Department of Revenue collection timelines.
D). Valuation of the naming rights shall be determined by whichever is greater:
1). The dollar value stated by the Major League Baseball club or National Football League team
2). The valuation of the naming rights at 10% of the business and occupation total annual gross receipts as reported on the Washington State Department of Revenue Combined Excise Tax Returns.
E). The Penalty for each Major League Baseball club and the Major League Baseball Entity and each National Football League team and the National Football League for failure to pay the tax on time:
Fines: An amount equal to the failed tax payment plus 29% penalty due after the last day of the second month following the return’s due date.
After one year, the Washington State Department of Revenue (DOR) shall revoke the business license of the Major League Baseball club for failing to pay taxes. After one year, the Washington State Department of Revenue (DOR) shall revoke the business license of the National Football League team for failing to pay taxes. The business can appeal the revocation to the Administrative Review and Hearings Division.
F). Funding: The Stadium Naming Rights Rebate Tax Bill shall use existing Washington State Department of Revenue funding to implement the law.
Definitions:
The term ‘professional stadium’ means any facility (or appurtenant real property) which, during at least 5 days during any calendar year, is used as a stadium or arena for professional sports exhibitions, games, or training.
The term National Football League team means any professional football team that is entitled to the benefits, and bound by the terms, of the National Football League.
The term National Football League (NFL) means a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC).
The term Major League Baseball Club or “Major League Club” means any professional baseball club that is entitled to the benefits, and bound by the terms, of the Major League Baseball Constitution (adopted in 2000, replacing and modeled on the Major League Agreement in effect from 1921 to 2000).
The term Major League Baseball Entity means each of, and “Major League Baseball Entities” means more than one of, the Office of the Commissioner, its Bureaus, Committees, Subcommittees, and Councils, The MLB Network, LLC, MLB Advanced Media, L.P., MLAB Acquisition Corp., SportsOnEarth LLC, Major League Baseball Enterprises, Inc., (doing business in its own name and as Major League Baseball Productions), Major League Baseball Properties, Inc., Baseball Television, Inc. (d/b/a Major League Baseball International), Major League Baseball Clubs, and each of their subsidiaries or Affiliated entities, any entity which, now or in the future, controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with the Major League Baseball Clubs or the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, and the directors, officers and employees of the above entities, and/or any of their respective present or future affiliates, assigns or successors.
End of text – – The Stadium Naming Rights Rebate Tax Bill.
Prepared by John E. Martin
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A number of questions were raised about The Washington State Stadium Naming Rights Rebate Tax Bill.
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How much money does the naming rights tax produce?
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Seattle Mariners rebate tax would be $2.4 million in 2022 and $2.6 million in 2023.
The Seattle Seahawks rebate tax would be $3.6 million in 2022 and $3.9 million in 2023.
A yearly total of $6.0 million in 2022 and $6.5 million in 2023.
The tax is charged to the owners and/or renters of the naming rights. The tax is collected by the teams – just like a store collects sales tax for items you purchase.
The quality of the teams are not impacted and the teams and the fans still have the same financial chance of winning the World Series or the Super Bowl.
Unless a team offers a special “tax free” deal to the naming rights company,
the Stadium Rebate tax does not impact the amount of money available to pay players salaries.
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Who pays the tax?
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T-Mobile Park.
The stadium rebate sales tax would be charged to T-Mobile USA. Deutsche Telekom owns 51% of T-Mobile USA.
Lumen Field.
The stadium rebate sales tax would be charged to Lumen Technologies, a global networking company headquartered in Louisiana.
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How is the rebate tax calculated?
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6.5% times the amount the team reports for naming rights: (Money for Naming Rights X 0.065 = the naming rights rebate tax)
OR
The professional team’s gross receipts times 10% and the new total times 6.5% (Gross receipts X 0.100 X 0.065 = the naming rights rebate tax)
The actual tax would be calculated using the total gross receipts as reported on Washington State Department of Revenue Combined Excise Tax Returns or the actual income or rent reported for naming rights.
The following 2023 figures were calculated using Statista gross sales figures for both the Mariners and Seahawks.
Seattle Mariners:
Total 2023 Seattle Mariners MLB Revenue $396,000,000
$396,000,000 X 0.10 = $39,600,000 X 0.65 = $2,574,000 or $2.6 million
Seattle Seahawks
Total 2023 Seattle Seahawks Revenue $600,000,000
$600,000,000 X 0.10 = $60,00,000 X 0.65 = $3,900,000 or $3.9 million
Source: Statista
Mariners Source: Statista Dec 11, 2024
https://www.statista.com/statistics/196682/revenue-of-the-seattle-mariners-since-2006
Seahawks Source: Sep 30, 2024
https://www.statista.com/statistics/195294/revenue-of-the-seattle-seahawks-since-2006
I hope this information gives clarity to the Washington State Naming Rights Rebate Tax Bill. and encourage you to support it- – today!
You can support it today by contacting your local or state representatives.
Phone and emails of all members of the Washington State Legislature.
https://app.leg.wa.gov/rosters/members
Or find your own district representatives
https://app.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder
Democracy works when citizens participate.