The new tax law should be corrected to make clear that public universities—such as those that employ highly compensated sports coaches—are subject to a new excise tax on executive compensation, a Joint Committee on Taxation official said.

The new law requires that specified tax-exempt organizations—for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2017—are required under new tax code Section 4960 to pay an annual excise tax on compensation exceeding $1 million paid to certain employees.

There is some thought outside of...