Wyden Applauds Action to Shut Down ‘Basket Options’ Tax Loophole

WASHINGTON - Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today applauded the Treasury Department and IRS for issuing guidance that would effectively end so-called ‘basket options,’ which are financial arrangements used to avoid billions of dollars in capital gains taxes:

“I applaud the Treasury Department and IRS heeding my call to take action and bring the hammer down on these basket options once and for all.” Wyden said. “The law is very clear in this area – basket options are a tax shelter. Today’s guidance from the Administration is a win for taxpayers and brings us one step closer to a more fair and equitable tax code.”

Through this tax shelter, known as basket options, alternative investment vehicles use a complex financial structure to convert short-term capital gains to long-term capital gains resulting in billions of dollars in avoided taxes.

Wyden recently sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew calling for the tax shelter to be closed. That letter can be found here.

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