4-3 IAN Farm Estate Tax

President’s Budget Threatens to Tax Agriculture Out of Business . President Obama recently proposed a multi-trillion-dollar-budget. The president said the budget is designed to spur job creation and impose higher taxes on the rich. However, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association  spokesman Mike Deering said the president’s take on the estate tax threatens job creation and punishes the producers of food and fiber.  “Increasing land values and the rising costs of equipment drive up the value of farm and ranch estates. If allowed to continue, the estate tax will continue to break up farms and ranches across America and will make it much more difficult to meet the increasing demand for food around the world. The president's budget proposes an estate tax at a $3.5 million exemption level with a maximum tax rate of 45 percent.” As a result of a last-minute fix passed through Congress in December 2010, the current estate tax exemption level is $5 million per individual and $10 million per couple with a maximum tax rate of 35 percent. Alexander said the president’s proposed fix is not a solution but rather a continuation of unnecessary and outdated tax burdens on farmers and ranchers.”