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 In a telephone interview on CBS's "Face the Nation," Trump vowed
to reform the tax laws if elected and said the current system was
harming middle class Americans who currently faced higher tax rates
than traders on Wall Street.
"The hedge fund guys didn't build this country. These are guys that
shift paper around and they get lucky," Trump said.
"They are energetic. They are very smart. But a lot of them - they
are paper-pushers. They make a fortune. They pay no tax. It's
ridiculous, ok?"
Trump's comments were referring to the so-called "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 rate.
Many fund managers are in the top income bracket, but the capital
gains tax bracket is only 20 percent.
 While these individuals are also required to pay an additional 3.8
percent surtax on their net investment income, this total rate is
still far lower than the 39.6 percent rate that top wage earners
must pay on their ordinary income.
"Some of them are friends of mine. Some of them, I couldn't care
less about," Trump said.
"It is the wrong thing. These guys are getting away with murder. I
want to lower the rates for the middle class."
Trump did not offer any specific detail on how he would like to
reform the tax code, but he is not the only presidential candidate
to take aim at the "carried interest" loophole.
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Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton has also previously called
for reforms, saying it was wrong that hedge fund managers "pay lower
taxes than nurses" or truck drivers. [ID: nL2N0XB31K]
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, another Democratic presidential
candidate whose progressive agenda has been drawing large crowds of
supporters, has also been a vocal critic of the tax loophole.
Among Republicans, Trump has continued to dominate the field of
presidential candidates.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll on Friday showed Trump with 32 percent of the
support of Republicans, followed by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush
with 16 percent, and Ben Carson with 8 percent.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Gareth Jones)
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