That decision, Ryan said, means that Republicans are trying to change the tax code in two stages. Carried interest will come later, and any changes to its tax treatment could be used to lower individual tax rates.

Tax Breaks

Republicans also have resisted using changes to carried interest to pay for other tax breaks or spending.

Ryan didn’t offer an opinion on merits of the issue, in response to a question from an audience member at the conference, hosted by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

“I’m not going to give you the answer you’re looking for,” he said. “I don’t even know which one it is.”

Ryan resists some arguments on the issue made by Democrats, and said he sees a difference between ordinary income and “risk-based capital income” earned by taxpayers.

“The thing that I don’t think we ought to be doing is buying into class warfare,” Ryan said. “So in that particular conversation, what I find is a big class warfare argument.”

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