TSCRA Opposes House Bill To Extend Estate Tax

The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) expressed strong disappointment today after the U.S. House of Representatives failed to truly reform the estate tax, also known as the death tax. The House passed H.R. 4154, a bill that if signed into law, will permanently extend the estate tax at the 2009 levels, without provisions to adjust it for inflation. The House bill will freeze the estate tax rate at its current level of 45 percent, a level that will hurt Texas ranchers who wish to pass their cattle operations on to their children and grandchildren. Virtually all ranchers are affected by the estate tax, as over 97 percent have been ranching for more than one generation and nearly 15 percent ranch on land that has been in their family for more than 100 years. The estate tax is considered one of the leading causes of the breakup of multi-generation family operations, as these estates are five to 20 times more likely to incur estate taxes, according to the USDA Economic Research Service. TSCRA strongly supports a full repeal of the estate tax; however, until this is a possibility, TSCRA supports lower tax rates, higher estate exemptions, and agricultural and wildlife production exemptions...read more