Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Bartlett: Mitt Romney, Carried Interest and Capital Gains

Via  Taxprog blog: Bartlett: Mitt Romney, Carried Interest and Capital GainsNew York Times:  Mitt Romney, Carried Interest and Capital Gains, by Bruce Bartlett: A key reason for Mr. Romney’s low tax rate is that a very substantial amount of his income comes from capital gains – 51% in 2011 and 58% in 2010. Capital gains, […]

Romney and Private Equity’s Questionable Schemes for Paying Very Little Tax

by Linda Beale Romney and Private Equity’s Questionable Schemes for Paying Very Little Tax Presumably any American who wants to be informed is aware that GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney‘s claim to business acumen resides in his experience at a private equity firm that made much of its money by ramping up debt at purchased […]

Greg Mankiw attempting to justify carried interest

by Linda Beale Greg Mankiw attempting to justify carried interest Greg Mankiw wrote an op-ed in the Sunday Times Money section: Capital Gains, Ordinary Income and Shades of Gray, New York Times (Mar. 4, 2012). Mankiw notes the historical trend in the US to differentiate between capital gains and ordinary income regarding tax rates (though […]

Romney’s Wall St. J. Interview with Gigot–Protecting the Rich

Romney’s Wall St. J. Interview with Gigot–Protecting the Rich [edited to rephrase and correct typos 12/26/11 5 pm] Joseph Rago and Paul Gigot interviewed Mitt Romney on his ‘vision’ for America–“On Taxes, ‘Modeling’, and the Vision Thing”, Wall St. J. Dec. 23-24, 2011, at A13.  In it, Romney reveals the way patrician wealth has affected his […]

ABA TAx Section Pronouncement on Carried Interest

by Linda Beale ABA TAx Section Pronouncement on Carried Interestoriginally posted at Ataxingmatter (Nov. 10) The American Bar Association Section of Taxaction has issued a letter on Comments on Carried Interest Proposals in senate Amendment 4386 to H.R. 4213 (Nov. 5, 2010). As many are aware, a letter from the officers of the ABA Tax  […]

Carried Interest: Senate Getting Swayed by Lobbyists

by Linda Beale Crossposted with Ataxingmatter Carried Interest: Senate Getting Swayed by Lobbyists The Senate started discussion of the “extenders” legislation on Tuesday. IN the House version, HR 4213, there is finally a carried interest provision, though it is a weak one. (Recall that carried interest is the amount that managers of hedge, equity and […]

Carried Interest: prospects?

by Linda Bealecrossposted at Ataxingmatter Carried Interest: prospects? At the ABA Tax Section meeting in Washington last weekend, there was surprisingly little talk about the carried interest proposal. Carried interest, for those who don’t work often in the partnership area, is the way that managers of real estate, hedge, and equity partnerships receive a generous […]