美国国家公共电台 NPR--Planet Money: The carried interest tax loophole survives another challenge

Planet Money: The carried interest tax loophole survives another challenge

Transcript¹

The carried interest loophole was central to the debate over the Inflation Reduction Act signed by President Biden this week. It's part of a bigger story about a tax code riddled² with loopholes.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The last days of debate over the Inflation Reduction Act, as it was called, centered on what's called the carried interest loophole. Stay awake now. This matters. An attempt to close the loophole was removed during negotiations³ to collect enough Senate votes. Kenny Malone from NPR's Planet Money podcast tells us this is part of a much bigger story about a tax code that is riddled with similar exceptions.

KENNY MALONE, BYLINE⁴: The carried interest loophole is how some very rich people in the private equity⁵, venture capital, hedge fund world pay lower taxes today. But for some backstory, we head to the 1950s.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE ABBOTT AND COSTELLO SHOW")

BUD ABBOTT: Got to get rid of that $3,000, or we'll have to pay income tax on it.

MALONE: Comedians⁶ Abbott and Costello have been doing a surprising number of taxation⁷ routines.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE ABBOTT AND COSTELLO SHOW")

LOU COSTELLO: I wonder how I can get rid of this money.

ABBOTT: Wait a minute. I've got it. We'll give $1,000 apiece to the first three people we meet.

MALONE: That is some low-key tax-dodgery right there, which might have been topical because the U.S. had been in decades of expensive wars. Taxes had been going up and up. And by 1951, the top marginal income tax rate was 91%. Steven Bank is a tax law professor at UCLA and says it's not like politicians wanted this old wartime rate, but cutting it would have looked like a break for the rich.

STEVEN BANK: That was, like, kind of embarrassing. So Eisenhower didn't want to - nobody wanted to lower the top rate. But they all recognized that the top rate was outrageous⁸. So the way to deal with that without lowering the top rate was to provide a lot of exemptions⁹, to overlook a lot of things.

MALONE: The '50s sound like tax-break Oprah. You get a tax break. You get a tax break. And at one point, the tax code had a break for, like, film executives who left their jobs after 20 years and held profit shares for 12 years. And everybody was like, wait - this only applies to L.B. Mayer, the second M in MGM. Rich people were calling in the lobbyists, plus calling up tax lawyers to find all kinds of workarounds.

BANK: Large portion of the tax industry was devoted¹⁰ to conversion¹¹.

MALONE: Conversion - meaning, can you call all this money that I'm getting this other thing? And problem solved.

BANK: Exactly.

MALONE: Classic trick - you convert personal income into capital gains, for example, which is taxed at a much lower rate. So the '50s are all exemptions and deferrals and conversions¹², carving¹³ up the tax code into Swiss cheese. In 1954, the tax code was due for a big restructuring. But instead of our politicians just clamping down on the dodges¹⁴ and lowering the personal income tax rate, Congress and the IRS seemed to decide the fairest thing to do was tell everyone about these rich people tricks.

BANK: If 1954 enshrined anything, it's the entire code was replete¹⁵ with examples of people lobbying for specific provisions that would allow them to avoid the high marginal rates. It's what everybody was doing at the time.

MALONE: And just one of many little carveouts in the 1954 code was, basically, the carried interest tax break, a now-infamous tax break but also this vestige¹⁶ of the 1950s tax break bonanza¹⁷ that helped build the messy tax code that we all know and love today.

Kenny Malone, NPR News.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 riddled   

adj.布满的；充斥的；泛滥的v.解谜，出谜题(riddle的过去分词形式)

参考例句：

• The beams are riddled with woodworm. 这些木梁被蛀虫蛀得都是洞。
• The bodies of the hostages were found riddled with bullets. 在人质的尸体上发现了很多弹孔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

6 comedians   

n.喜剧演员，丑角( comedian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The voice was rich, lordly, Harvardish, like all the boring radio comedians'imitations. 声音浑厚、威严，俨然是哈佛出身的气派，就跟无线电里所有的滑稽演员叫人已经听腻的模仿完全一样。 来自辞典例句
• He distracted them by joking and imitating movie and radio comedians. 他用开玩笑的方法或者模仿电影及广播中的滑稽演员来对付他们。 来自辞典例句

7 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。

8 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

9 exemptions   

n.（义务等的）免除( exemption的名词复数 )；免（税）；（收入中的）免税额

参考例句：

• The exemptions for interpretive rules, policy statements, and procedural rules have just been discussed. 有关解释性规则、政策说明和程序规则的免责我们刚刚讨论过。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• A: The regulation outlines specific exemptions for some WPM. 答：该规定概述了某些木质包装材料的特定的例外情形。 来自互联网

10 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

11 conversion   

n.转化，转换，转变

参考例句：

• He underwent quite a conversion.他彻底变了。
• Waste conversion is a part of the production process.废物处理是生产过程的一个组成部分。

12 conversions   

变换( conversion的名词复数 )； （宗教、信仰等）彻底改变； （尤指为居住而）改建的房屋； 橄榄球（触地得分后再把球射中球门的）附加得分

参考例句：

• He kicked a penalty goal and two conversions, ie in Rugby football. 他一次罚球得分，两次触地后射门得分（在橄榄球赛中）。
• Few of the intermediates or enzymes involved in these conversions have been isolated from higher plants. 在这些转变中包含的少数中间产物或酶已经从高等植物中分离出来。

13 carving   

n.雕刻品，雕花

参考例句：

• All the furniture in the room had much carving.房间里所有的家具上都有许多雕刻。
• He acquired the craft of wood carving in his native town.他在老家学会了木雕手艺。

14 dodges   

n.闪躲( dodge的名词复数 )；躲避；伎俩；妙计v.闪躲( dodge的第三人称单数 )；回避

参考例句：

• He tried all sorts of dodges to avoid being called up. 他挖空心思，耍弄各种花招以逃避被征召入伍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Those were the dodges he used to escape taxation. 那些是他用以逃税的诡计。 来自辞典例句

15 replete   

adj.饱满的，塞满的；n.贮蜜蚁

参考例句：

• He was replete with food and drink.他吃喝得饱饱的。
• This immense space may be replete with happiness and glory.这巨大的空间可能充满了幸福和光荣。

16 vestige   

n.痕迹，遗迹，残余

参考例句：

• Some upright stones in wild places are the vestige of ancient religions.荒原上一些直立的石块是古老宗教的遗迹。
• Every vestige has been swept away.一切痕迹都被一扫而光。

17 bonanza   

n.富矿带，幸运，带来好运的事

参考例句：

• Bargain hunters enjoyed a real bonanza today.到处买便宜货的人今天真是交了好运。
• What a bonanza for the winning ticket holders!对于手持胜券的人来说，这是多好的运气啊。