Agricultural News
Mary Kay Thatcher Predicts a Fix for the Death Tax
Thu, 11 Mar 2010 5:40:00 CST
Congress is going to fix the Death Tax- that's what longtime lobbyist Mary Kay Thatcher of the American Farm Bureau told us this past weekend while we were both at the Commodity Classic in Anaheim, California. In 2010, the Estate Tax rate at the Federal level is zero, but January 1, 2011, it jumps back a decade and is a very high tax with a relatively low dollar amount of an exemption. In 2011, the estate tax will be reinstated with a $1 million exemption and a top rate of 55 percent.
AFBF has a backgrounder with their position spelled out in it- click here for that. Their policy states "Farm Bureau believes that estate taxes should be eliminated permanently. If estate taxes are reinstated, there should be an exemption large to exclude farms and ranches from estate taxes, the exemption should be indexed for inflation and be transferable to a spouse. Farm Bureau opposes a retroactive restatement of the estate tax. Farm Bureau supports the continuation of "stepped-up" basis which adjusts the value of property for inflation at death."
Thatcher told us in Anaheim that Congress is starting to feel more and more heat on doing something this year on Estate taxes, and she believes that an exemption of several million dollars per person will be put in place. Farm Bureau also is pushing hard for what is called "stepped up basis" so that farmers will be able to avoid a huge capital gains bill if they elect to sell all or a portion of their land or other assets.
Click on the Listen Bar below- and you can hear my conversation with Mary Kay Thatcher on the Death Tax issue.
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