U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer is preparing legislation that would close a controversial tax loophole enjoyed by highly paid hedge-fund managers. His bill also will affect other industries. It comes weeks after he drew bipartisan fire on the topic.
"Senator Schumer wants to make sure that everyone is taxed at the same and fair rate - including oil and gas companies, who enjoy a similar tax break, and will introduce legislation to ensure just that," spokesman Josh Vlasto said Friday.
Most of the U.S. workforce encounters income tax rates as high as 35 percent. Those managing hedge funds pay a flat 15 percent of earnings. But Schumer last month balked at a Senate bill sponsored by Max Baucus (D-Montana) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) addressing that disparity. Critics then accused New York's senior senator of holding out for a broader but harder-to-pass bill merely as cover, since he's helped raise many millions of dollars from Wall Street for Senate Democratic campaigns.
Dan Janison