With much relief from farmers across America, the federal tax bill that addressed estate taxes was signed into law on December 17.
For the next two years, the new tax package will alleviate the pressure farmers have had to sell some of their land to help pay the estate tax. It exempts the first $5 million dollars of a farm estate, with a 35% tax rate after that. The tax package also extends the 2006 tax incentive for landowners, who donate a conservation easement on their land with the enrolled property- permanently limited to ag or other compatible uses.
Jon Scholl, president of American Farmland Trust said in a recent article in Wallaces Farmer, “We need to permanently extinguish federal taxes that cause farmers and ranchers to stop production and sell their land.” He hopes Congress will continue to look for a more permanent solution that exempts farms, ranches and forest land estate taxes for land that remains in agriculture.
To read more about the new tax package, click here.
(Source: Wallaces Farmer)