Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Sponsoring Golf Tournaments

Another sign that credit unions are becoming mainstream financial institutions is their sponsorship of the LPGA's Symetra Tour events.

The Symetra Tour is the developmental tour for the LPGA.

This last weekend, The Credit Union Classic Presented by Wegmans was staged in Syracuse, New York. The title sponsors were three credit unions -- Empower FCU, SEFCU, and Summit FCU.

This upcoming weekend, SEFCU and Sunmark FCU are sponsors of The Credit Union Challenge, which will be played in Albany.

It is probably only a matter of time before we see credit unions sponsoring events on the LPGA tour or even the Web.Com tour (use to be the Nationwide Tour).

While becoming title sponsors of professional golf tournaments may improve brand recognition for credit unions, it has nothing to do with their tax-exempt purpose.

It does raise the question why large credit unions remain tax exempt.
Posted by at
Labels: ,

4 comments:

  1. David M. GreenJuly 31, 2012 at 11:35 AM

    Marketing expenses and tax exemption are mutually exclusive. What's the difference between sponsoring a golf tournament and giving away pens with the credit union logo on it?

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJuly 31, 2012 at 1:06 PM

    Even if credit unions were taxed, the taxpayers would pick up a share of the expenses as a tax deductible expense. That is today's occurance when banks sponsor athletic competitions, arenas or stadia.

    Why do banks have a federal corporate tax exemption under Subchapter S? Inquiring minds are just asking!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Keith LeggettJuly 31, 2012 at 1:10 PM

    Dear Inquiring Mind:

    Subchapter S banks do not have a federal income tax exemption. They are pass through entities and are taxed just like partnerships.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJuly 31, 2012 at 3:27 PM

    Dear Dr. Leggett:

    The owners of Sub S banks only have to pay one set of taxes at the individual level. The owners of C corp banks have both the corporate taxes paid and taxes paid on dividends/capital gains. Thus the Sub S banks have a tax advantage that has been estimated in the $200 million per year range (2000 numbers).

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
 

The content is provided for educational purposes only, with the understanding that neither the authors, contributors, nor the publishers of this site are engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other expert or professional services. If legal or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

Comments appearing in response to articles appearing on this site do not necessarily reflect the views of the ABA. ABA makes no representations regarding the truth or accuracy of commentary or opinions that may be posted in response to the articles that appear on this website.

The inclusion herein of any link to a website, either in the text of an article or in a comment, does not denote any approval, sponsorship, or endorsement by the ABA, and ABA is not responsible for the content or opinions expressed on those linked websites or related commentary. This content is not licensed to third parties sites and is not affiliated with any third party site. Any reference to the author or this content on any third party site on the Internet is not authorized by the ABA.

It is the policy of the American Bankers Association to comply fully with all antitrust laws. Certain discussions should be considered off-limits, including those that contain competitively sensitive data such as price and cost information, or statements that could be construed as reflecting an attempt or desire to control or influence a particular market or markets. Future pricing or other prospective competitive information should never be shared.