U.S. senator targets hedge funds with tax evasion legislation
July 14, 2011
Lawrence Delevingne
Carl Levin attacks offshore tax havens once again, hoping to seize on the broader fiscal responsibility battle in Washington. Lawyers say the industry is a “whipping boy” and the legislation is “stupid.”
Forget raising taxes on the very wealthy or slashing government entitlement programs. There’s a much easier way to inject an extra $100 billion a year into U.S. government coffers and save the U.S. from default: End offshore tax loopholes and evasion. That’s according to Senator Carl Levin, the Democrat from Michigan and long time advocate of ending what he sees as tax loopholes and other lax rules that allow people and firms to stash money abroad. A new proposal released Tuesday, the latest in a series of big legislative packages the senator has proposed on the issue, could have important implications for the hedge fund industry if it becomes law.
“It would severely impact U.S.-based managers because their ability to take foreign and tax exempt money would be substantially hurt,” said Phil Gross, a partner specializing in hedge fund...
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