Fund structures are driven substantially by the tax positions of different investor classes.
Taxable investors prefer flow-through treatment and long-term capital gain character, which favours a partnership.
Tax-exempt investors are concerned with unrelated business taxable income, generated by operating businesses held directly and by debt-financed income. Blocker corporations interposed between the fund and such investments convert the income into dividends at the cost of entity-level tax.
Non-US investors are concerned with effectively connected income, which creates a filing obligation and withholding. Blockers address this as well, and treaty considerations drive the choice of blocker jurisdiction.
Carried interest holding period requirements for long-term capital gain treatment, which constrain exit timing and the structuring of the carry.
Management fee waivers exchanging fee income for a profits interest have been closely scrutinised and require genuine entrepreneurial risk.
State tax. Composite returns, withholding on non-resident partners, and nexus created by portfolio holdings.
Reporting. Partner statements, foreign account reporting, and information returns, with timing that frequently forces investors to extend their own filings — an operational complaint worth addressing in the fund documents.