Stepped-up basis is maintained in U.S. House bill
Farmers would be protected from an onerous change to federal tax law that has been considered to help pay for a $3.5 trillion spending plan, under a new U.S. House proposal.
The stepped-up basis, a critical estate-planning tool that helps protect generational family farms, would be preserved under the tax plan, released Monday by the U.S. House Ways & Means Committee.
The Biden administration and some congressional leaders have suggested eliminating the stepped-up basis, the repeal of which would devastate agriculture, family farms and small businesses.
The Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA) and the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) are pleased to see that no changes to the stepped-up basis were included in the initial House bill. But NCGA and MCGA are concerned about proposed changes to the estate tax that could impact family farms.
In response to the bill, MCGA President Tim Waibel released the following statement:
“MCGA thanks the U.S. House of Representatives Ways & Means Committee for maintaining the stepped-up basis in the budget reconciliation package. The stepped-up basis is critical to ensuring that hard-working growers can smoothly transition family farms from generation to generation, and removing it would be harmful to agriculture and rural communities. MCGA thanks key House members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation for their efforts to oppose tax policies that would harm family farms and will continue to work with all delegation members on policies that strengthen the agricultural community. MCGA will continue to monitor the reconciliation process as it moves forward.”
NCGA President John Linder issued the following statement:
“We are very pleased to see that the House Committee did not include the elimination of stepped-up basis within its initial text. However, we are concerned with the provisions on the estate tax in the Committee draft that could impact family farms. NCGA will continue to work to preserve stepped-up basis and the current estate tax exemption as this process moves forward.
“Family farms produce crops that feed Americans and provide consumers with affordable and environmentally friendly fuel. We are grateful to the House Agriculture Committee for including funding for biofuels infrastructure in its bill and thank Representatives Cindy Axne, Angie Craig and Cheri Bustos, along with Chairman Scott, for their leadership. Greater market access for higher blends of ethanol deploys more low-carbon fuels while supporting rural economies. As the country works to meet the President’s ambitious climate goals, ethanol is the solution we need now.”
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