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Utah Patriotic Millionaires Deliver Letter to Sen. Hatch

This article was originally run in KCSG Television on April 13th, 2016

By Chase Thomas

SALT LAKE CITY – Millions of Utahns will file their taxes this week, but thousands of investment fund managers earning millions of dollars per year, will pay at a lower tax rate than teachers, firefighters and most ordinary Americans. A group of Utahns, the Utah Chapter of the Patriotic Millionaires, want this changed and called on Senator Orrin Hatch to close the “carried interest loophole.”

“It’s really quite simple,” stated Jonathan Ruga, a member of the Patriotic Millionaires who personally benefits from the tax loophole. “We don’t think that wealthy New York hedge fund managers and other money managers should be able to earn their compensation at the much lower capital gains rates. Instead, we believe that a fair tax system requires compensation income, as distinguished from investment income, to be taxed at the regular, non-preferential rates that the ordinary American worker pays.”

The letter demands Senator Hatch, as Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, put The Carried Interest Fairness Act (Senate Bill1686) to a vote. The loophole that would be closed by this legislation allows hedge fund and money managers to pay taxes at the capital gains rate, nearly half the rate paid by teachers, firefighters and others taxed at the ordinary income tax rate. Closing the loophole is supported by Republicans and Democrats, including presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump and Jeb Bush.

“This bill is supported by both Republicans and Democrats,” argued Art Lipson, a local hedge fund manager who also benefits from the loophole. “It’s time our Senators do their job.”

copy of the letter and pictures from the press conference are attached.

The Patriotic Millionaires are a group of 200 high-net-worth Americans who are committed to building a more prosperous, stable, and inclusive nation. The group focuses on promoting public policy solutions that encourage political equality; guarantee a sustaining wage for working Americans; and ensure that millionaires, billionaires, and corporations pay a greater percentage of taxes. You can find out more at http://pm-mig.test/about/.

The Patriotic Millionaires have appeared on hundreds of media outlets here and abroad, including The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the PBS NewsHour, The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and many others. You can find more coverage at http://pm-mig.test/media.