Buyout Firms, Hedge Funds Look to Senate, Bush to Beat Tax Rise

By Alison Fitzgerald and Ryan J. Donmoyer

Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Private-equity firms and hedge funds may lose their first legislative skirmish when the U.S. House votes today on a proposal to raise their taxes. They will find friendlier territory ahead in the Senate and the White House.

The House is poised to adopt a $78.3 billion measure that would alleviate the impact of the alternative minimum tax this year. The measure offsets lost revenue by more than doubling the tax rate on so-called carried interest, the payment that executives at buyout and venture-capital firms, and real-estate and oil and gas partnerships, receive for managing investments.