Ann Coulter blasts Trump for not following through on campaign promise about huge tax loophole
Longtime Donald Trump supporter and conservative commentator Ann Coulter went on a Twitter storm about the president on Monday.
Specifically, she’s apparently annoyed with Trump for not following through on a campaign promise about taxes.
I WANT TO KNOW: WHO PUSHED FOR PRESERVING THE CARRIED INTEREST LOOPHOLE FOR HEDGE FUND MANAGERS?
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) December 18, 2017
A 15% income tax for hedge fund managers is NOT the free market.
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) December 18, 2017
Tax rates ought to at least have some bare minimum perception of fairness.
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) December 18, 2017
For Trump to promise to end it everywhere he went, and then back down, is a very bad look.
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) December 18, 2017
Coulter is talking about the carried interest tax loophole that lets hedge fund managers pay a capital gains tax of 20 percent and an investment tax of 3.8 percent.
It’s essentially a tax break for the rich. Closing the loophole would make hedge fund managers pay a tax of 43.4 percent.
As early as August 2015, Trump said In an interview with TIME that he wanted to "switch taxes around" and that he knew a lot of hedge fund managers who "weren't paying anything."
After he won the presidency in May 2017, he maintained that the carried interest tax would be removed under his plan, saying "Look, carried interest was great for me too, but carried interest was unfair and it’s gone."
Now, in the latest GOP tax reform bill, the loophole essentially hasn’t changed. According to Bloomberg, it has only been somewhat modified, and will now allow fund managers to still get that break as long as they hold onto their investment for three years instead of the previous one year required.
The Senate is expected to vote Wednesday on the tax bill after the House does the same on Tuesday.