Agriculture Groups Pushing Estate Tax Repeal

A coalition of more than 30 agriculture groups is pressing Congress to repeal the estate tax.  A letter sent to the House Ways and Means Committee asked that any tax reform package include permanent repeal of the estate tax.  Sometimes referred to as the "death tax," the levy is imposed on the net value – less an exemption – of an owner's assets transferred at death.

For the 2016 tax year, the exemptions for the estate tax are just under $5.45 million for an individual and $10.9 million for couples.  Transferred estates valued at more than those figures are subject to a maximum tax rate of 40% on the amount of assets above those levels.

The agriculture groups, which includes the National Pork Producers Council, wrote in the letter saying: “The estate tax is especially damaging to agriculture because we are a land-based, capital-intensive industry with few options for paying estate taxes when they come due.”

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