STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: NPR's business news starts with a subpoena.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: At least a dozen private equity firms are being investigated by New York State over their use of a questionable tax strategy.</s>DAVID GREENE, HOST: And among the firms being subpoenaed is Bain Capital, the company founded by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.</s>DAVID GREENE, HOST: The New York Times reports the state's attorney general, a Democrat, is looking into whether the firms converted fees for managing funds into investment income, allowing it to be taxed at a much lower rate.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Experts have mixed views of this tax strategy. The paper reports that some call it aggressive, others say it's potentially illegal.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Romney's campaign issued a statement that argued the tactic is, quote, "common and totally legal," but noted that the candidate did not benefit from it in his own investments.
At least a dozen private equity firms are being investigated over their use of a questionable tax strategy, according to The New York Times. The state's attorney general is looking into whether the firms converted fees for managing funds into investment income — allowing it to be taxed at a much lower rate.