Boston Globe- A trade group representing hedge funds spent $300,000 to lobby the federal government in the first half of 2007 as Congress debated whether to raise taxes on the industry.
The Washington-based Managed Funds Association lobbied against congressional efforts to raise taxes on hedge funds and buyout firms and their managers and numerous other issues, according to a disclosure form posted online Aug. 14 by the Senate’s public records office.
Hedge funds are pools of capital that traditionally have catered to institutional investors and wealthy individuals. They have grown rapidly in recent years, leading to calls for increased oversight and taxation.
A broad tax bill introduced last week by Rep. Charles Rangel, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. would raise taxes from 15 percent to as much as 35 percent for profits earned by private equity, venture capital firms and hedge funds and their managers.
However, senators appear less inclined to pursue the tax hike. Earlier this month, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said similar efforts in that chamber are likely to fail this year.
