IARN — Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley has joined several of his Senate colleagues in reintroducing legislation to permanently repeal the federal estate tax, more commonly known as the death tax.
In his weekly conference call with farm reporters Monday morning, Grassley said the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2021 would put an end to this tax that has the potential to hit family-run farms, ranches, and businesses as the result of the owner’s death.
“In February, we unexpectedly saw corn and soybean prices go up, probably hitting a seven-year high,” Grassley said. “This is good news for Iowa farmers, but while it’s good news, this will without a doubt result in increasing farmland values. A saying that many farmers are familiar with is that while they may be asset rich, you can also at the same time be cash poor. This reality can cause headaches if farm families have an unexpected death. That’s why last week I reintroduced legislation to permanently repeal the federal estate tax.”
Grassley says with all of the difficulties farmers have faced during the pandemic, they don’t need another costly system getting in the way of their work to feed and fuel the world.
“This bill would finally end a punitive tax that has the potential to hit family run farms, ranches and businesses when an owner dies,” Grassley said. “Thankfully, the Tax Cut Jobs Act doubled the estate tax exclusion. Now it’s at $11.7 million, but with the price of land increasing, it puts thousands of Iowa farms in danger of being hit with this harmful tax. No family farmers should have to sell their land to pay Uncle Sam just because the head of the household died.”
The bill is cosponsored by fellow Iowa Senator Joni Ernst and a number of their Senate colleagues. The legislation is supported by the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Cattleman’s Beef Association, NFIB, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Family Business Coalition, the Family Business Estate Tax Coalition, the Policy and Taxation Group, the Associated General Contractors of America, the National Taxpayers Union and many others.
Story courtesy of the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network
Image source: Wikimedia Commons
