Agricultural trade groups push for estate tax reform

The Wisconsin Ag Connection is reporting that some of America's most powerful agricultural industry trade groups have joined together in sending a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) in which the groups call for immediate relief for America's farmers and ranchers from the estate tax. The letter was signed by 28 farm organizations.

If Congress does not act to change the law, in 2011 the estate tax rate will be 55 percent at the top rate. The law will have an exemption for estates valued at less than $1 million. Many in the agriculture industry believe returning to this rate and exemption level will "cause many viable agricultural operations to disappear."

In the letter the organizations state, "We support permanently raising the exemption to no less than $5 million per person and reducing the top rate to no more than 35 percent . . . It is also imperative that the exemption be indexed to inflation, provide spousal transfers and include the stepped-up basis."

Among the organizations that signed the letter are the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, and the Public Lands Council.

For more information on the estate tax, check out the National Agricultural Law Center's Reading Room on Estate Planning and Taxation by clicking here.
To read the Wisconsin Ag Connection online story, click here.

Posted: 04/14/10