Senate plan lets mutual funds skip a tax change that hurts individual investors

• Following complaints, the Senate Finance Committee has decided that a provision preventing investors from minimizing taxes will no longer apply to mutual funds, the Wall Street Journal reported
• However, the provision will still reportedly hit individuals
• The proposed rule will bar investors from choosing which shares they want to unload, and instead require them to sell off their oldest ones first

Following a backlash, the Senate Finance Committee has decided a proposal to prevent investors from minimizing taxes will no longer apply to mutual funds, as first proposed — but it will still hit individuals, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

The provision in the U.S. Senate plan will alter tax rules on some securities sales by barring investors from choosing which stock shares they want to unload when selling part of an equity position, the Journal reported. Instead, investors will have to sell off their oldest shares first, the report said.

The change was originally meant to apply to both fund firms and individuals. However, senators exempted mutual funds from the provision after protests by some of the largest firms, including Vanguard Group and Eaton Vance, according to the Journal.

Advisors are urging investors who intend to donate or put for sale specific shares that are not their oldest to do so before the end of the year, the Journal said.

For more about the Senate's proposed tax provision, see the report in the Wall Street Journal.