Not a Brandon fan but would still vote for him again over the maga clown ass that started his presidency blatantly lying that he had the biggest inauguration ever and ended it trying to overturn an election he got destroyed in. Not everything is about shareholder value and I’m not necessarily convinced based on history that one party or the other has done a unequivocally better job at managing the economy than the other. 

 

Nobody is saying because it is unfair, they aren't happy to benefit from it. Most people in finance have benefitted from some type of unfairness (easiest example is being born to a good family that provides education opportunities, or even nepotism). Sucks to lose money you would otherwise have made. But what folks are saying is just because the change would hurt them doesn't mean "eff these politicians they are so dumb this makes no sense"

 

That makes no sense- obviously people prefer to pay less in taxes, they also are capable of logical thought and realize that there isn't a good reason for carry to be taxed at the capital gains rate rather than the personal income tax rate.

The only reason carry has been taxed at the lower rate for so long is because it effects a very small amount of high income earners and it was broadly overlooked/not discussed. 

 

It is functionally a fee for management services provided. Capital gains are taxed lower than income because they come with risk of losing your investment. The GP commitment is treated as capital gains, as it should since it's an investment the GP made with its own risk. The 20% performance fee doesn't come with any principal risk and should be taxed as ordinary income. 

If investment banking fees (which scale higher the better outcome your client receives) are taxed as ordinary income, then management fees should be as well. 

 

capex fairy

It is functionally a fee for management services provided. Capital gains are taxed lower than income because they come with risk of losing your investment. The GP commitment is treated as capital gains, as it should since it's an investment the GP made with its own risk. The 20% performance fee doesn't come with any principal risk and should be taxed as ordinary income. 

I think principal risk is just one piece of it the carry is proportional to capital gain generated and so imo it should be taxed as such. I’m sure the structuring geniuses will figure something out. We put blood sweat and tears into the job fuck this. Lol at functionally a fee also, what?? 

 

If you're an LP yes. If you're an employee of the PE firm, no. Carry is really just another form of incentive compensation.

The argument for lower capital gains is you're getting taxed twice, which isn't the case for employees of a PE firm. 

t's pretty hard to argue it's not compensation when the PE firms themselves are making the argument to their employees that it's compensation. 

 
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good. all the limousine liberal nyc PE types deserve this for propping up democrats in elections.  

you get what you vote for.

 

Any why are property taxes high in blue states?  Have an issue with SALT then lower your property taxes like majority of states manage to do and still have functioning governments.

 

Sinema has specifically stated that she is against this. In a broader sense, don't forget that she was against all of the tax components of last year's legislation. While I might be biased by my hope that this does not pass, I feel as if there is a strong chance that this is dropped; ultimately a very small part of the "revenue" component.

 

Where does it say that 5+ year holds are exempt (taxed at the LTCG rate via the "loophole vs. as ordinary income)? Thanks in advance!

 

No one does more to avoid paying taxes than the ultra wealthy and there's no logical, unbiased reason that this loophole shouldn't be closed.

You guys wonder why so many people on both sides of the aisle hate the bankers and ultra rich in this country? Look at these reactions. 

Rules for thee but not for me...

"I don't know how to explain to you that you should care about other people."
 

Normally I disagree with you but the carried interest loophole is egregious to pretty much everyone who doesn't work in PE. I understand why a PE person would be upset about this but it's actually a pretty crazy loophole when you think about it. Either way I don't have a horse in this race, just curious to see what happens 

Not sure this actually passes though as Sinema is against it. Don't think Republicans are going to vote for this if it's bundled into a broader package with climate change so I'm not sure people are talking about this as a foregone conclusion 

 

Agreed. This thread is fucking pathetic. A part of me is sad that I will be making less money if this goes through. Another part of me recognizes that I am making 8 figures when my carry comes in, I frankly do not need this much money, and it could be better allocated to other people. I am inherently greedy, just like everyone else, and that is why I was not voluntarily donating it to charity. That is why this is necessary. A big talking point on this forum is how democrats only hurt poor people and not wealthy people (???). But here ya go. This exclusively targets wealthy people. No sane person outside of PE will tell you the current loophole is fair. NOBODY. I love the outrage from college students who aren't even affected by this. If you make it to principal, you will still have far too much money to know what to do with. Don't worry.

 

This is an honest question - don’t you feel like you are better at allocating $$ than gvnt? Dollar for dollar Im sure your philanthropy efforts have more material impact than what the gvnt does/would be doing. I think people are upset to end up paying more in taxes when it is unlikely that anyone will benefit. 

 

I'm a bit torn on this one, to be honest. My first reaction, as a LMM guy, was that *I* and the fund I work for create value in a way that is distinct from how megacap and even larger mid-market shops do, so my end of the market should be exempt (main character bias, obviously). I also had the knee-jerk reaction that they should be targeting public equities carry before coming after the private markets (kinda similar to first reaction on LMM vs. larger). On balance, there is no real reason for this tax treatment to exist for the vast majority of folks, as Alt-Ctr-Left says above. 

I do wonder whether more favorable levered coinvestment terms will start to come to the forefront to help solve for some of the decreased take-home. I would imagine that for future funds, GPs might ask LPs for more favorable terms so that the GP can provide higher levels low-cost leverage at higher levels than is currently market.

Someone smarter (@APAE) probably has a more nuanced take than my crayon scribbles above.

 

??? If anything the LMM guys do more operational work than the large cap guys. Large cap is closer to stockpicking than LMM is

 

What do you mean public markets carry? you mean LT capital gains tax? If that's the case this is a truly autistic take. Private equities are held primarily by the top 5% (overwhelmingly the top 1-2%) while public equities are held by even the average Joe (or avg Joe has money invested in funds / indexes for the LT). Why would you screw over the average American by increasing cap gains on public equities? Makes 0 sense

 

My shop is handing out huge leverage lines to finance co-invest. Future returns on that will (hopefully) far outpace carry 

 

Obviously as finance guys none of us hate to see the deck stacked in our favor. But frankly, we'll be fine without it and probably don't deserve it.

My one wish is that they allowed the carried interest loophole to still apply to individuals building wealth (Below a HH net worth threshold in the millions). I still think there's a valid rationale to give tax advantages that encourage wealth building & investment from people trying to build their nest egg. 

 
TimesNewMoney

I still think there's a valid rationale to give tax advantages that encourage wealth building & investment from people trying to build their nest egg

You can use the Mitt Romney Roth IRA structure for that :-)

 

Isn't it like a $7,900/year max contribution though? Also aren't there income restrictions at like $200K to contribute?

I don't know shit about shit when it comes to personal finance / wealth management lol I feel like I should be literate on this. 

 

Let us pray that Sinema comes through or a structuring wizard figures out a solution.

Gotta imagine that funds are already exploring options/structuring solutions.