SEAT LICENSES
One thing they won't be: Tax-deductible
Business entertainment drives a lot of sports revenue. But for the high-end Vikings tickets that are coupled with seat licenses, the cost will be mostly not tax-deductible.
The amount deductible for any sports ticket used for business entertainment is limited to the face value of the ticket. This rule kicks out seat licenses and scalper fees.
In the case of a skybox lease, the amount allowable as a deduction may not exceed the sum of the face value of non-luxury-box seat tickets.
The IRS allows a tax break for seat licenses at college sports, but not for professional sports. Eighty percent of the amount paid to a college or university for the right to purchase tickets, whether or not used for business entertainment, is deductible as a charitable contribution. Not so for professional sports.
So, seat license and skybox leases at the new Vikings stadium will not be tax-deductible business expenses.
In addition to these various limitations, business meals, tickets and parking at a Vikings game, like any business meals and entertainment, are only 50 percent tax deductible.
That doesn't mean that some of those costs won't sneak through an expense report as marketing expense, but it's not correct.
MARK SELLNER, Plymouth
FRACKING
Three strikes in one day, should be out
When three articles appear before you on the same day concerning fracking, you have got to wonder whether this is an ominous thing.
• France opts to keep a ban on hydraulic fracturing because the environmental costs are too high, even though it is one of the most promising European countries for shale gas extraction. Can France be any smarter than us?
• The next article states that as the oil patch booms, "so does organized crime in North Dakota and Montana. More people equals more money equals more crime." It appears to be a losing battle, according to the authorities.
• The third article is about the recent huge oil spill in North Dakota. North Dakota authorities say they will review the safety of the pipeline process. Did anyone think about checking this out before they started?
Three good reasons to question the wisdom of this craziness, but where there is money and jobs involved, you don't want caution or wisdom to stand in the way.
MIKE MENZEL, Edina
REPRESENTATION, PLEASE?
If I must pay taxes, I deserve the vote
As a student with a part-time job, I was appalled to see $35 taken from a paycheck. For some strange reason, it is taken by a organization called "Minnesota State Withholding." That's odd, because I don't remember being allowed to vote in any Minnesota elections.
Critics counter with the idea that parents represent their children, but when my parents make a middle-class salary and I make $8 an hour, I think our political support leans different ways. So how can I, an unrepresented entity, be taxed without representation by a state that decides the voting age?
MATTHEW SELMAN, Eden Prairie
AIRPORT NOISE
Heard about FAA's changes? You will.
If you love the Minneapolis lakes, then you should be very concerned about the Federal Aviation Administration's new RNAV program, which may be implemented as early as late this fall unless there is pushback now by neighborhoods and lake users. What the FAA is proposing is condensing 30 flight paths into seven air superhighways, most of which will run over our lakes.
Walkers, runners, bicyclists, skiers, here's what you can expect: The area between Lake Calhoun and Isles will be hit the hardest, from approximately 20 flights daily to 135, one after another, landing and takeoffs. Departing flights are louder, and Delta flies an older fleet that is considerably louder on takeoffs and landings. Although there are no remote detectors near Calhoun or Isles to document noise, we know from Lake Harriet detectors that many of their flights register above 80 decibels, like a lawn mower at one meter.
What the FAA is doing is trying to force a national air program on cities throughout the country, even if it doesn't fit with a particular city's needs and desires. Our lakes are our city's greatest treasure, but the FAA hasn't taken that into consideration.
Join those of us who care deeply about our lakes on Tuesday night at the Metropolitan Airports Commission's citizen meeting. For more information on RNAV, go to mspfairskies.com. For information about the meeting, contact www.macnoise.com. And while you're at it, write to Congress — Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, neither of whom have supported citizen efforts to fight the implementation of RNAV.
CAROL DINES, Minneapolis
RANDY BREUER
Like nearly any letter, guaranteed controversy
After reading the Letter of the Day of Oct. 18 ("The U should give Randy Breuer his due"), I demand you make this the Letter of the Day damn soon: Who gives a flying duck whether Randy Breuer's jersey ever is retired by the University of Minnesota except Randy Breuer and his son?
Willard B. Shapira, Roseville
• • •
Just wanted to say, what a great Letter of the Day about Randy Breuer, by his son. Could not agree more.
