July 21 (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury Department has raised concerns about several Wall Street tax strategies, saying it may be “too good to be true”, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.
Treasury officials told an industry gathering in New York that some of these products may be abusive and said it is actively evaluating the tools available to address them, according to the report.
The officials stopped short of announcing new guidance but said they expected “a serious dialogue with the market before positions harden” and investors are placed at more risk, Bloomberg reported.
The products under scrutiny include so-called 351 conversions, box-spread exchange-traded funds, products that offset ordinary income, and funds that avoid dividend income by flipping between other ETFs, according to the report.
“We’re not here to be over-broad or disruptive, but we are also not prepared to turn the blind eye to aggressive planning,” Kevin Salinger, deputy assistant secretary for tax policy said at a Wall Street Tax Association seminar, Bloomberg reported.
The comments come as tax-aware investment products have gained popularity among wealthy U.S. investors seeking to reduce tax liabilities.
(Reporting by Prakhar Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
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