ARA, others, urge Congress to repeal estate tax

Washington-The Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) and 22 national and state agribusiness groups sent a letter on April 16 to the Senate Finance Committee calling for permanent repeal of the estate tax. ARA said that if Congress fails to act before Jan. 1, 2011, the law would be reinstated at a $1 million exemption and top rate of 55 percent. “With the definition of ‘estates’ encompassing both liquid and illiquid assets, the ‘land rich’ agriculture industry is severely disadvantaged, with families being forced to sell assets in order to pay the estate tax,” ARA said. In the letter to Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), the organizations said a full repeal of the tax would be in agriculture’s best interest, but acknowledged, “the current financial situation makes that difficult to accomplish.” In the absence of a repeal, the organizations urged Congress to permanently raise the exemption to $5 million per person and reduce the top rate to 35 percent. “It is also imperative that the exemption be indexed to inflation, provide for spousal transfers and include the stepped-up basis,” the letter said. In a press release, ARA said permanent estate tax relief is “crucial to ensure America’s agribusinesses around the nation are able to make sound business decisions on financial planning for the future, while making certain the family business can be passed on to future generations.”