Vance-Whitehouse Bill Would Stop Subsidizing Big Corporate Mergers Through Tax-Exemption

Populist conservative U.S. Sen. J. D. Vance of Ohio and progressive Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island last month introduced a bill that would end tax-free mergers and taxpayer subsidies for acquisitions that consolidate corporate power.

Under their Stop Subsidizing Giant Mergers Act, shareholders who receive stock through mergers and acquisitions would owe capital-gains taxes immediately, instead of being able to defer taxation until they sell the new shares. It would apply to deals involving firms with annual gross receipts of more than $500 million over a three-year span.

“Massive corporate mergers rarely produce their promised benefits,” Vance said, “but often leave American workers and families behind. It’s past time to close the unfair loopholes that allow these deals to escape tax liability.”

“Our bipartisan bill will end a massive tax giveaway for giant corporate mergers and get our government out of the business of subsidizing corporate consolidation,” Whitehouse said.

This article first appeared in the Giving Review on April 1, 2024.