By Dan Perkins – Re-Blogged From http://www.Constitution.com
Without carried interest perhaps hundreds of thousands of small businesses would never get started. Some people, including President Trump, say that we should tax carried interest as current income because some hedge fund or private equity managers get special tax treatment with carried interest taxed as capital gains. The hedge fund managers are not the only people who benefit from carried interest transactions. Some of you may know what carried interest is, but I think most people do not understand the term. I thought that I should define it in words people like me and you know, and then I will describe an example. By the way, if you want to see real examples of carried interest transactions in action watch “Shark Tank.”
A carried interest is when an investor agrees to help provide money for a business to start it or additional capital to run it under special terms. Generally speaking the small businessman or woman needs capital, and an investor will say, “I will lend you the money at a reduced interest rate, but in exchange for a lower cost of money to you, I want some of the stock in the company and monthly interest income. Then in the future, I want to be able to sell my stock, hopefully at a profit.” This future sale is referred to as an exit. Keep in mind there is no guarantee that the investor will get his money back.
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