O’Neill Says Party Won’t Save IRA Break for Rich

House Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) O’Neill today called IRA tax deductions a “mighty loophole for the wealthy” and said Americans could not count on House Democrats to keep the tax breaks in a final version of tax reform.

O’Neill, asked about Senate action Wednesday night that rejected efforts to restore individual retirement account deductions to its tax overhaul plan, indicated that he was not opposed to the Senate’s tough IRA provisions and thought the accounts are used mostly by upper-income people.

“(The IRA program) looks to me like it’s a rich man’s out,” said O’Neill (D-Mass.). “It’s a mighty loophole for the wealthy of America.”

O’Neill said the first priority for tax reform is to get the bill through the Senate so the two chambers can begin conference negotiations on a compromise version. The House last year passed its own tax reform bill that would largely keep IRA tax breaks.