Sticking closely to his background in agricultural, U.S. Representative John Salazar, a Colorado farmer and rancher, re-introduced the Save the Family Farm and Ranch Act on his first day back on the job this week.
The Save the Family Farm and Ranch Act was introduced during the last legislative session. This act would defer inheritance taxes so heirs to farms and ranches would not have to literally sell off the family farm to pay the taxes on it.
(Salazar) "All too often, what happens is when the children inherit the property, they actually have to sell it off to pay the inheritance tax and our intention is by removing that and utilizing the definition by the IRS of what a family farm or farming operation is where over 50% of a person's gross income is actually coming from that farming operation, would then be allowed to defer the tax buntil the time the person would decide to sell it for development or something else."
This act keeps working farms in the hands of real working farmers as opposed to ranches that are owned by wealthy people such as doctors or lawyers who may own some ranching property for tax purposes but do not make the majority of their living from it. "This is intended to protect the family farm and ranch," Salazar said.