That whooshing sound you're hearing is the sigh of relief from real estate investors reacting to the news that the carried interest loophole—the favorite tool of CRE investors to mitigate their federal tax burden—has survived the final negotiations on a $740B tax and spending bill moving to a vote in the US Senate today.

The original language of the reconciliation bill, sponsored by Sens. Chuck Schumer and Joe Manchin and branded as the Inflation Reduction Act, would have closed the loophole and increased the tax on transactions involving properties held for less than three years to 37% from the current level 23.8%.

The provision in the original bill would have required gains of a partnership interest to be held for a minimum of five years in order to be taxed as a long-term capital gain rather than the much higher tax rates that apply to short-term gains.