Groundwork’s Lindsay Owens on Bessent Hearing: Billionaire tapped to oversee tax policy doesn’t even pay his own taxes
January 16, 2025
Groundwork’s Lindsay Owens on Bessent Hearing: Billionaire tapped to oversee tax policy doesn’t even pay his own taxes
Today, the Senate Finance Committee will hold a nomination hearing for Scott Bessent, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Treasury. New reporting suggests that Bessent has dodged millions in taxes, including improperly claiming nearly $2 million in tax losses and owing nearly $1 million in taxes related to his hedge fund. Groundwork Collaborative Executive Director Lindsay Owens shared the following statement:
“The billionaire hedge fund manager Trump handpicked to oversee a massive tax giveaway for the ultra-wealthy doesn’t pay his own taxes. It’s almost too on the nose. The president-elect is stacking his cabinet with one goal in mind: more tax breaks for his billionaire boys club and major corporations.”
Email press@groundworkcollaborative.org to speak with one of Groundwork’s experts about the tax debate.
BACKGROUND
- Bessent is alleged to have skipped out on paying $910,182 in taxes for income he made through his hedge fund, and to have improperly claimed $1,939,296 in losses related to income made from a conservative book publishing house.
- The incoming administration is poised to be the wealthiest in modern history. The president-elect has nominated at least 13 billionaires to join his cabinet or take top posts.
- The ascent of his ultra-rich allies into top White House positions is no accident. Extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – which overwhelmingly benefited the wealthiest Americans – is one of the Trump administration’s top priorities.
- A recent analysis from the Treasury Department found that on average, a full extension of Trump’s tax law would give the top 0.1% of people an extra $314,000. Meanwhile, the 75 million families at the bottom would get less than $1 a day.
- Extending the individual provisions of Trump’s tax scam will actually cause the economy to shrink over the long term according to a December 2024 analysis from the Congressional Budget Office.
- The 2017 tax law had no real impact on corporate investment, and job and wage growth actually slowed after enactment, according to a paper by the Institute for Macroeconomic Policy Analysis (IMPA).
