Victory on check-the-box shows corporate lobbyists have more sway than financials.
The Obama administration’s budget plan contains some painful tax hits for financials. Private equity and hedge fund managers would see their carried interest taxed as income, not capital gains. And the $90 billion TARP bank levy remains intact, although Treasury officials now say it won’t apply to the repo market, which should be a relief to banks. But corporates have derailed on one big item that was worrying them: check-the-box isn’t being repealed, as many feared.