College Football

A set of Internal Revenue Service guidelines has included a ruling that contributions by the Mobil Corp. to the Mobil Cotton Bowl and by the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co., to the John Hancock Bowl are taxable.

The IRS said incidental recognition of the corporate sponsor would continue to make the contributions tax exempt, but that if the recipient of the contribution went beyond merely recognizing the donor--such as putting the donor’s logo on an event’s name or on uniforms, or placing banners throughout a stadium--the contribution would be taxable.