“Take on Wall Street” Statement: Time to Close an Egregious Loophole

Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Representative Sander Levin (D-MI) have reintroduced a bill to close the carried-interest loophole that allows the billionaire managers of private equity and other investment funds to evade normal income tax rates and in some cases keep a bigger share of their income than firefighters and secretaries.

“It’s hard to find a more egregious example of Wall Street billionaires rigging the rules for their own advantage than the carried interest loophole,” said Jon Green, Campaign Manager for the Take on Wall Street campaign. “It is an outrageous and unfair benefit for the wealthy and powerful for no reason other than that they are wealthy and powerful. Every member of Congress should stand with Senator Baldwin and Representative Levin in supporting this bill. There is simply no excuse for allowing this injustice to persist.”

As a candidate for President, Donald Trump promised to eliminate this loophole. But as the New York Times points out, the sketchy tax plan released by the White House last week would give many of the beneficiaries of the carried interest loophole an even bigger tax break.”