Posted on 09/22/2015 6:26:26 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Donald Trump has promised that he will ease burdens on the middle class by going after “the hedge-fund guys,” who, he believes, do not pay enough in taxes. “They’re making a tremendous amount of money — they have to pay taxes,” he says. Because the one thing in which Trump is consistent is his vagueness, it is not 100 percent clear whether what he is talking about is the so-called carried-interest loophole, which is very much on the minds of people with economic-policy views similar to Trump’s — meaning Bernie Sanders and Hillary Rodham Clinton and other cookie-cutter progressives — but in any case, it is worth having a look at the reality and the myths of how hedge funds and other financial firms are taxed, assuming that we want to start with facts and proceed to opinion rather than go like a crab backward.
The myth is this: Hedge-fund managers take home tremendous paychecks that are really plain old payments for services but which are disguised as long-term capital gains, meaning that they get taxed at 15 percent rather than the 39.6 percent I pay on my salary, which is fundamentally unfair.
The thing about myths is, they’re myths.
If you will forgive a brief little dip into finance gobbledygook, some clarification is in order here. The first thing to understand is that “hedge fund” has come to be used the way the Left (and science-fiction writers) use the word “corporation,” meaning: men and institutions with a great deal of money doing things that I do not understand, who must, therefore, be evil. Indeed, the current discussion about the taxation of financial firms is a terrific example of how the good-guys/bad-guys school of policy analysis makes people stupid.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
RE: How about a ‘debate’ on whether the idea is even friggin real?
I am trying to understand this post. What “idea” are you referring to?
If you are referring to Trump’s idea to change the tax code to target hedge fund managers due to their tax avoidance strategies, YES, that idea is figgin’ real. It is Trump’s idea.
The Hedge Fund Managers Tax Break: Because Wall Streeters Want Your Money
I’m all for taxing rich Democrats as much as possible. Same goes for Hollywood. You want to become an arm of the Democrat Party, then get ready to have your taxes raised to finance the big gov’t you pine for.
Donald struck a nerve. The GOPe is out in full damage control mode. Two articles in NR just today about this.
Donald is correct. They do benefit hugely from a tax loophole.
Fraud Street... the money machine. They brought you 401s as well to get their grubby paws on your money and put you to work for them. It worked. If Donald lobbies both sides Fraud Street makes him look like a piker of currying favor.
He specifically addressed ONE loophole out of all the ones that would be gotten rid of in his tax plan. Why are you being so simple minded about this? I know you’re smarter than that. What gives? Do you make your living as an accountant or something?
The only people who could possibly be against what Trump has talked about in his book (the plan is supposed to be officially unveiled in the next couple weeks I believe) are people who make their living fleecing the rest of us via the tax code. What’s your angle?
I agree with the article. Talking about taxing hedge fund guys more is just a populist talking point. That is the one thing Trumps talks about that I absolutely do not agree with.
The idea that he’s ‘raising taxes’ or actually targeting anyone. It isn’t real. He is simply SELLING a graduated flat tax with no deductions to people who like class warfare. And he knows nobody likes hedge fund douches, so it’s sort of a win/win.
The democrats do propose it and I still think it’s a bad idea.
Set the alternative minimum tax to 5% and set the alternative maximum tax to 25%
Rich Lowry began his career as a research assistant for Charles Krauthammer.
If you take the risk, investing your money and/or labor on a business and over a longer period you may or may not make a return on your investment, removing a tax incentive may not make it worth the risk.
Allowing aggressive speculators, who may sometimes help stabilize the market; but who also may contribute to market instability at other times; to allow them a special preferential treatment for carried interest income, is simply not fair. Hillary also advocates traffic laws; does that mean Trump should reject them?
Back after World War II, America began building expressways similar to what Hitler had built and used to move troops around in Germany to fight the allies. Was that an argument against building expressways? Of course not.
Like when Trump was asked about his bankruptcies and not paying off his debts, he just laughed and said those people have plenty of money.
Not above my head, and I agree with the article. But Trump is counting on it being above most people’s heads.
Carly lost Stockholders moneys while she made money.
Trump used Chapter 11 Bankruptcy laws not Chapter 7.
Nice thought... your tax rate is tied to the platform of the person that you voted for. Win or lose, that’s the rate that you pay. Bernie’s 90 percent should bring in oodles of cash from the Marxist Hollywood elites. Those candidates for zero income taxes (as we had for more than half of our existence) should get a heck of a boost at the polls! :)
You’re going to have to run with some Populism if you plan to win in 2016. The electorate as it stands today is in no mood for more of the same old same old lassiez-faire.
Sad from an economic purist’s viewpoint, but it’s political reality.
Tax ‘em from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
The same tax rules apply to stockholders if held for long term, so your comment doesn’t make sense. I stated what Trump said about it. I did not say anything about Carly so don’t know where that came from. It’s obvious you donate understand the issue.
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