Donald Trump on taxes: 'Hedge Fund managers are getting away with murder'

Republican presidential candidate has railed against Wall Street and called for higher taxes on hedge-fund managers

Zlata Rodionova
Monday 24 August 2015 19:52 BST
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Donald Trump: "This country doesn’t have—won’t have a middle class very soon.”
Donald Trump: "This country doesn’t have—won’t have a middle class very soon.”

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has opened fire on hedge fund managers vowing to reform the tax code to ensure they pay their share.

In a telephone interview on CBS’s ’'Face the Nation' on Sunday, Trump called for higher taxes for hedge fund managers who he claimed are “getting away with murder.”

The real-estate magnate vowed to help middle class Americans by lowering their tax burden.

“The hedge fund guys are getting away with murder. They’re making a tremendous amount of money. They have to pay taxes. I want to lower the rates for the middle class. The middle class is the one, they’re getting absolutely destroyed. This country doesn’t have—won’t have a middle class very soon,” he told CBS news.

Trump’s comments specifically address a tax loophole known as “the carried interest loophole” - a provision in the tax code which allows private equity and hedge fund managers pay taxes at the capital gains rate instead of the ordinary income taxes, the rates of which are significantly higher for the highest earners.

The candidate comments could put him at odds with his own party as the support for ending the tax loophole stretches across party lines.

Republicans in Congress have almost universally opposed President Barack Obama’s plan to raise taxes on capital gains in January this year.

Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, however, has also previously called for reforms, saying it was wrong that hedge fund managers 'pay lower taxes than nurses' or truck drivers.

Many Republicans also embraced anti-Wall Street messages. In July, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry declared he is "fed up" with Wall Street's antics, while Ohio Gov. John Kasich derided the banking industry as rife with greed.

Among Republicans, Trump has continued to dominate the field of presidential candidates.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll on Friday showed Trump with 32 % of the support of Republicans, followed by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush with 16 %, and Ben Carson with 8 %.

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