Expiring Tax Law and Renewed Tax Uncertainty

The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expires next year, and that’s raising big challenges for farmers and ranchers, according to National Cattlemen’s President Mark Eisele who says it’s not an issue of paying taxes...

“We don’t mind paying some taxes, we don’t mind paying our fair share, something that’s manageable and adjustable to what we do for a living, and how our actual cash flow comes in.”

Which Eisele told NCBA’s Beltway Beef podcast may not end up the case if the 2017 tax law is allowed to expire without a favorable replacement…

“All the things that really will matter, your herd, your genetics, your cropland, all the things that you value and worry about, those will be null and void because the taxes will eliminate that.”

With resulting rates that could go to 40 percent or even higher…

“Whether you’re a ‘brick and mortar’ deal, you’re not going to survive a 60 percent tax, you’re not going to survive a 40 percent tax. It’s un-doable.”

Again Mark Eisele, National Cattlemen's Beef Association President. He says to add to that the huge cost of tax planning for estate and other taxes. Then, there’s talk of taxing unrealized asset gains and heaping tax liability for generational Ag wealth on a current operator.