Farmers Exemption from Estate Taxes

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

U.S. House of Representatives (H.R. 3524) recently introduced a bill that will exempt family farms from federal estate taxes if the farms will stay with their respective families.  The bill is called Family Farm Preservation Conservation Estate Tax Act.  It was assigned to the Committee of House Ways and Means after being introduced by (D-Colo) Rep. John Salazar and (D-Napa) Rep. Mike Thompson.

According to Laurel Brown, the spokeswoman of Thompson, “The bill would defer estate taxes on conserved and agricultural land indefinitely, so long as it still remains in the family - this ensures that nobody would have to sell the land just to pay for the estate taxes.  Then Murray said that “So many family farms have been struggling until now.  This bill will encourage farms to remain in the family’s possession.  There aren’t too many left.”

The law governing agricultural estate taxes is expiring next year.  It’s expected to be replaced by another law in 2011 that would tax families blending the levels of 2001 and 2002.  This level is hard for a lot of family farms, which are typically asset rich yet cash poor.

The new estate legislation was endorsed by 28 farm organizations including Western United Dairymen, Western Growers, California Association Winegrape Growers, and California Farm Bureau Federation.

Tags: agriculture, bill, estate, estate taxes, farms, federal, John Salazar, Laurel Brown, law, legislation, Mike Thompson, U.S. House of Representatives
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