Rauner used strategy now under IRS scrutiny to slash income taxes
From the Chicago Tribune
Returns show GOP hopeful used fee waivers — a strategy now under IRS scrutiny — to pay much less than top bracket’s rate
IRS data show Bruce Rauner to be one of the 11,000 richest tax filers in the nation, but most of the millions he made in recent years was taxed at 15 percent — less than half the top federal rate for the wealthy, a review of tax documents released by the GOP governor hopeful shows.
One reason behind that sharp discount is that Rauner took advantage of a strategy that yielded big tax savings on his share of investment fees paid to his private equity firm, GTCR. That strategy is allowed under tax rules but has come under IRS scrutiny.
An analysis of the limited records Rauner has released, conducted by the Tribune in consultation with tax experts, gives the fullest picture yet of the steps he took to trim his tax bill. In ways both big and small, the Republican businessman’s financial profile is one driven by tax-reducing strategies often out of reach for those of more modest means:
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