TAX MANAGEMENT
SITUATION:
Private equity firms have conquered the American tax system.
$4.5 trillion industry has avoided paying billions in taxes
Has managed to derail efforts to increase its tax burden
Lobbyists and campaign contributions.
200 lobbyists & doled out & 600 M campaign contributions in last decade,;
Repeatedly derailed past efforts to increase its tax burden.
Firms are rarely audited despite whistle-blowers’ claims of tax dodges.
SIGNIFICANCE:
The I.R.S. almost never audits private equity firms
Even as whistle-blowers have filed claims alleging illegal tax avoidance.
Private equity’s ability has vanquished the I.R.S. and Congress
Goes a long way toward explaining the deep inequities in the U.S. tax system.
Some of America’s richest men paid little or no federal taxes.
Rarely face audits: Private equity firms deploy partnerships to collect profits.
SOLUTIONS:
Lawmakers have periodically tried to force private equity to pay more.
Biden administration has proposed a series of reforms,
Such as enlarging the I.R.S.’s enforcement budget and closing loopholes.
STATS:
Firms typically charge their investors a management fee of 2 percent of assets.
And they keep 20 percent of future profits that their investments generate.
SOURCE:
Private Inequity: How a Powerful Industry Conquered the Tax System –
