Millionaire Daines Supports Last Minute Tax Carve Out to Benefit Himself

Helena—Steve Daines stands to benefit handsomely from a last minute provision added to the tax bill currently being rammed through Congress, which carves out a deduction for income Daines earns through so-called “pass-through” entities such as real-estate partnerships.

Steve Daines reported the second highest income from these entities among Republican Senators, earning as much as $4.2 million last year from eight properties managed by Genesis LLC.

Daines even briefly said he would vote no on the tax proposal unless there was a larger tax carve out for “pass-through” businesses.

According to the International Business Times, this last-minute provision, which has become known as the Corker Kickback, “allows investors in ‘pass-through’ entities, including real-estate partnerships such as LLCs and LPs, with few employees to deduct part of their income that passes through those partnerships.”

This provision was not included in any previous versions of the tax legislation, and appears to have been added at the last minute to solidify support among wavering senators.

During an interview about the legislation on Tuesday, Daines told Fox News: “It’s such a great bill. This is a tremendous Christmas present for the American people.” 

“It’s no wonder Steve Daines thinks this is ‘such a great bill,’ since it lines his own pockets,” said Nancy Keenan, Exeuctive Director of the Montana Democratic Party. “Daines is blatantly voting to enrich himself and other multimillionaires, give permanent tax breaks to corporations, and stick future generations with a $1.5 trillion bill.”

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