$2.5 Billion in Merrill Bonuses Would Elude Tax from AfterDowningStreet.org

$2.5 Billion in Merrill Bonuses Would Elude Tax
By Louise Story | NY Times

"By a technicality, the biggest giveaway on Wall Street will evade this bill," said Michael Garland, a spokesman with Change to Win, a federation of seven unions.

Merrill Lynch's $3.6 billion bonus pool has been among the most controversial payouts on Wall Street. But most of those bonuses, which included some 700 awards of over $1 million, would not be affected by a new bonus tax being considered in Congress.

The tax, which passed in the House on Thursday, would affect only bonuses paid during 2009. Typically, Merrill's bonuses are paid in January, along with the rest of Wall Street's. But the investment bank pushed $2.5 billion of the bonuses out the door in December in advance of its merger with Bank of America.

REST http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/40941