The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association strongly supports the Death Tax Repeal Act, led by Reps. Randy Feenstra (IA) and Sanford Bishop (GA). The Senate companion bill is led by Majority Leader John Thune (SD). Repealing the federal estate tax, also known as the Death Tax, is a top priority this year for NCBA.

“The Death Tax isn’t pro-growth – it’s a death warrant for family businesses. It’s the top threat to the future of family farms and ranches, and US cattle producers need relief from this insidious tax,” said NCBA President and Nebraska cattleman Buck Wehrbein. “Family-owned farms and ranches operate on limited cash flow, with most of their value tied up in land. As farmland and pastureland values rise, more producers will be hit with this punitive tax, forcing them to sell assets or take on debt, sometimes paying the Death Tax multiple times. In a recent NCBA tax survey, 33% of respondents had paid the tax, and 35% of them had paid it more than once. This is not a tax on the rich, it is a boot on the neck of family businesses. NCBA thanks Senate Majority Leader Thune and Reps. Feenstra and Bishop for leading the charge to repeal the Death Tax once and for all.”

Current Death Tax relief is set to expire at the end of 2025, and NCBA finds it is vital that Congress acts soon to provide permanent relief for the industry's family operations. If the federal estate tax exemption reverts to pre-2017 limits, coupled with the rapid inflation of farmland values, many more families will be subject to the Death Tax.

Source: National Cattlemen’s Beef Association