Taxation-Federal Commons^™

Mutual Funds, Fairness, And The Income Gap, Samuel D. Brunson

Samuel D. Brunson

The rich, it turns out, are different from the rest of us. The wealthy, for example, can assemble a diversified portfolio of securities or can invest through hedge and private equity funds. When the rest of us invest, we do so largely through mutual funds. Nearly half of American households own mutual funds, and mutual funds represent a significant portion of the financial assets held by U.S. households. The tax rules governing mutual funds create an investment vehicle with significantly worse tax treatment than investments available to the wealthy. In particular, the tax rules governing mutual funds force shareholders to …