Reports: Hedge fund execs to pay billions in tax settlement

FILE - In this photo March 22, 2013, file photo, the exterior of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building in Washington. Executives at a New York hedge fund have agreed to pay as much as $7 billion to settle a long-running dispute with the U.S. tax authorities, according to reports Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021. The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported that insiders at Renaissance Technologies agreed to the deal that could be one of the largest in U.S. history (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) (Susan Walsh, Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

NEW YORK – Executives at a New York hedge fund have agreed to pay as much as $7 billion to settle a long-running dispute with the U.S. tax authorities, according to reports Thursday.

The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported that insiders at Renaissance Technologies agreed to the deal that could be one of the largest in U.S. history.

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Among those in the settlement are Renaissance founder and prominent Democratic Party donor James Simon, and Robert Mercer, who was a major donor to former President Donald Trump’s campaign, according to the reports.

Renaissance had been locked in a yearslong dispute with the Internal Revenue Service after a Senate investigation determined that the firm used complex financial instruments to avoid paying nearly $7 billion in taxes.

The deal covers transactions between 2005 and 2015 and moves by the hedge fund to convert short-term trading gains into long-term profits, according to the reports.

Messages were left with Renaissance and the IRS seeking comment.