Why is there so much controversy over the capital gains tax being only 15%? From what I understand, capital gains are based off corporate profits that are already taxed at 35% or the regular tax rate (e.g. Blackstone's gross profits are already net of whatever their portfolio companies made), so capital gains represent a 15% extra tax on top rather than a "lower" tax rate.
Or am I missing something?
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The controversy comes in when a guy runs a billion dollar PE firm and makes most of his income in carried interest. So, the bulk of his income is taxed at 15%, while his secretary pays a higher rate. That's obviously greatly simplified, but it's somewhat of a "loophole" in the tax system that only benefits a very small (and generally very wealthy) group of people.
what
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