Gluesenkamp Perez Wants To Protect Generational Farms

Southwest Washington Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie have introduced bipartisan legislation to eliminate capital gains taxes on family farm transfers.

“The health of our nation is married to the wealth of our soil and generational stewardship. this bill recognizes that traditional financial models like 30-year mortgages are out of sync with the long work of building healthy soil,” Gluesenkamp Perez said. “When a loved one dies and ag land is split up to pay tax bills, it disrupts the generational work that it takes to build healthy soil. We can’t treat land like any other financial asset, as though we’re just dividing nickels and dimes, and expect good results.”

Under current law, farmers who sell land to family members can face taxes of up to 20%.  The proposed legislation would: 

• Allow the sale or transfer of family farms to qualified family members without the seller being subject to capital gains tax
• Prevent immediate resale to developers or corporations through a 10-year anti-flip rule
• Preserve the seller’s original tax basis during the 10-year holding period to ensure deferred gains are taxed if the property leaves the family
• Provide a step-up in basis to fair market value if the farm remains within the family for at least 10 years after the initial transfer. 

Gluesenkamp Perez previously introduced the HOMEGROWN Soil Health Act to support small, generational farm ownership and long-term soil health. She also introduced the bipartisan Farmland Security Act to increase oversight of foreign ownership of American farmland, the PACA Act to help producers improve soil health and build extreme weather resilience, and the Agricultural Right to Repair Act to ensure farmers can repair their equipment where, how, and when they want.

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