Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is talking with National Cattlemen’s Association executive director of government affairs, Kent Bacus, about the case for extending the death tax exemption. This is part two of Ron’s conversation with Bacus concerning the tax study that NCBA conducted over the course of a year and a half, and the findings were just recently released. Part one of the conversation can be found here.

With the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act set to expire at the end of 2025, NCBA collected this survey data to better understand how key tax provisions, such as Death Tax relief and business deductions, impact family-owned cattle operations. The study revealed some great cases to be made regarding the need to extend the exemptions on the death tax.

Of the 1200 individuals who responded to NCBA’s survey, one-third had to pay the estate tax. Of that number, 35 percent had paid it more than once. Bacus said, “Talk about getting kicked when you are down. You are having to deal with the loss of a loved one, and the government shows us with a big tax bill.”

Also concerning is that while the current estate tax relief is set to expire at the end of 2025, sixty-one percent of survey respondents indicated that they would be impacted if the estate tax threshold was reduced back to $5 million per individual or $10 million per couple.

“That really speaks a lot to the increase in land values and property values all around,” Bacus said. “We are asset-rich, and cash-poor. You find that throughout agriculture, but especially when you look at the cattle sector. It is a big concern for our industry, and it will definitely be a top priority. We want to see that thing repealed. The Death Tax kills family businesses. It is not a part of a pro-growth economy. If anything, it does more to destroy first and second-generation businesses than anything else in the tax code. It is something that NCBA strongly opposes.”

Bacus knows that their goal won’t be easy to accomplish because while many decision-makers on Capitol Hill have a notion of what the estate tax is, a lot haven’t had to deal with it personally.

“They don’t know the personal impact that these provisions have on our producers,” Bacus said. “That is why education and advocacy is going to be so important. Half of the current Congress wasn’t here the last time they had to vote on this tax code. We have a lot of ground to cover with these elected officials and their staff members in the year that we have before our deadline.”

Bacus revealed that the Biden Administration was for increasing the estate tax, and he is hopeful that the Harris Administration would not continue that legacy should they win the November election.

“Unfortunately, there are also Republicans saying that we have both a spending and revenue problem,” Bacus admitted. “Revenue problem is code for tax increases. It is uncomfortable to hear members of Congress, regardless of their Party, advocating for tax increases.”

He emphasized the importance of asking politicians for their views on taxes, small businesses, and the tools they believe are needed to foster a pro-growth economy that will help family-owned cattle operations when they are asking for support.

“We need a tax code that empowers small businesses, gives the owners the freedom to make investments in their operations, and hire people in their communities,” Bacus stated. “When you look at the economic pressures in rural America, having a sound tax code that encourages growth is something that everybody should support. So, it is important for us to make sure that our elected officials understand exactly how these letters and numbers of the tax code affect the real men and women who are growing our food and fiber, and raising our cattle.”

The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.

The post NCBA’s Kent Bacus: The Case to Extend the Death Tax Exemption first appeared on Oklahoma Farm Report.