House Legislation Exempts Agriculture from Estate Tax
NCBA has high hopes for the bill.
Compiled by staff
Published: Aug 14, 2009
A bill providing relief from estate taxes has been introduced in the House of Representatives and has the support of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. The bill would exempt farmers and ranchers as long as the land is kept in production agriculture. The bill provides estate tax relief for land under qualified conservation easements as well.
NCBA Executive Director of Legislative Affairs Colin Woodall says he's glad to see H.R. 3524 - introduced by Mike Thompson, D-Calif., and John Salazar, D-Colo.
"I think that they understand the burden that the death tax is putting on cattle producing families and they decided they needed to do something," Woodall said. "We understand that a full repeal of the death tax just isn't realistic in this Congress anymore, so they were trying to find another way to attack it. I think by looking at an agriculture exemption, which is what they have here, that is was something that might have a little bit better chance of passing."
Woodall says he believes this bill will get bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate and NCBA is working on getting cosponsors for the legislation.
"We've had a lot of interest from both Republicans and Democrats," Woodall said. "And we know on the Senate side that the Senate Finance Committee will be working on a tax bill probably sometime this fall, and that might be a vehicle to help get this bill attached to and get this done. So we're optimistic that we're going to get to see some movement on this particular bill." Woodall says this could be a big break for farmers who want their family to continue farming.
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Tagged: NCBA, farming, National Cattlemen's Beef Association
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