Agricultural News
Ag Groups Tell Congress- Get Your Lame Duck in Gear and Fix the Death Tax
Wed, 01 Dec 2010 6:31:02 CST
The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 raised the exemption amount and reduced the tax rate over time for the estate tax. Under the 2001 law, the 2009 estate tax exemption was set at 3.5-million dollars with a maximum tax rate of 45 percent; for 2010 the estate tax was repealed. Without congressional action, the 2011 estate tax exemption will revert to its pre-2001 amount of 1-million, with a tax rate of 55 percent plus an extra 5 percent for estates valued over 10-million. Numerous proposals have been introduced in Congress to repeal or modify the estate tax law.
On Tuesday, 10 farm groups had representative participating in a meeting with reporters at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. urging Congress to act on estate tax reform during the lame-duck session. Each organization voiced their own reasons why the estate taxes should be continued. We have an audio wrap that includes several of the comments made by the groups on Tuesday- click on the LISTEN BAR below to hear that overview with our Farm Director Ron Hays.
Here are some of the comments from the various groups sumarized:
The National Pork Producers Council believes - U.S. pork producers and other farmers deserve more for their hard work than to be "taxed in death, to death." Chris Wall, NPPC assistant vice president for government relations, said, - if Congress and the Obama administration really want to protect jobs and repopulate rural America, they ought to eliminate the estate tax, which if not at least fixed will affect 1-in-10 farms next year.
American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman says it is time to put death taxes to rest. Stallman told reporters at the National Press Club- the estate tax is especially damaging to farm families. He pointed out that - eighty four percent of farm assets are real estate-based. When Uncle Sam comes to pay his respects, surviving family members without enough cash on hand may be forced to sell land, buildings or equipment they need to keep their operations going.
According to Farm Bureau - a higher exemption and lower rates would give farmers and ranchers a better chance to remain in operation when transferring from one generation to the next. Farm Bureau is calling on Congress now to provide a permanent estate tax provision that would increase the exemption level to 5-million dollars, adjust it for inflation and reduce the maximum rate to 35 percent.
Representing the National Cattlemen's Beef Association was Scott Bennett, a junior at Virginia Tech University and an active participant in his family's cattle operation in Virginia. Bennett said he wants to return to his family's operation but the estate tax is a burden that may make his goal impossible. According to Bennett, - one would think that commonsense would prevail and this death tax would be reformed in such a way that it allows young people, the next generation, to take over family farms and ranches, which are responsible for providing a safe, abundant and affordable food supply here and across our borders.
The National Association of Wheat Growers were represented by their Chief Executive Officer Dana Peterson. Peterson told reporters that if not addressed by Congress in the lame duck session, future estate tax liabilities would not only drain family businesses of funds that might otherwise be reinvested, but could also force families to sell off their business assets, including the very land used to grow the nation's wheat crop.
"Farmers hold their equity in the land; their whole mentality is with the land," she said. "So, when families have to sell land to pay a tax, it literally tears away their roots."
National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson said, - the estate tax was once debated as a means to achieve a more equitable society. Today, it is often viewed simply as a political device to divide the electorate and fund government programs. NFU's policy supports an estate tax rate of 45 percent progressively indexed to higher rates as the value of the estate increases. An exemption level of 4-million dollars for an individual or 8-million for a married couple should be established.
American Soybean Association Executive Committee member Joe Steiner, a soybean grower from Mason, Ohio, says - even small and very moderate-sized family farm operations would be negatively affected if estate taxes are not reformed. Steiner pointed out, - with farmland in many regions selling for 5-thousand dollars per acre, it takes only 200 acres of land to reach the exclusion value of one-million dollars. And that exclusion is inadequate to account for the value of machinery, livestock, and buildings with tractors now costing 150-thousand dollars; combines costing 250-thousand; and a single cow valued at one-thousand dollars. ASA strongly supports a 5-million dollar exclusion and a 35 percent top tax rate.
According to the U.S. cotton industry; - if estate taxes are allowed to be reinstated at the beginning of 2011 with only a 1-million dollar exemption and top rate of 55 percent, U.S. agriculture will be affected very negatively. The National Cotton Council says cotton farmers will be particularly hard hit as family-owned cotton farms and associated small businesses, including gins, warehouses, processors and merchandizing firms, will be affected.
The family of Taylor Slade, a Williamston, North Carolina, cotton and peanut producer has been in business since 1722. Slade emphasized that farming is a land-based, capital intensive industry with few options for paying estate taxes when they come due. He also explained that not just farms but much of cotton's infrastructure, which creates key employment in rural areas, also will be hard-hit.
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