Feenstra Highlights Harmful Impacts of Proposed Step-Up in Basis Changes During Hearing on Growth & Investment in Rural America
WASHINGTON -- Today during a Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit subcommittee hearing on opportunities for growth and investment in rural America, Rep. Randy Feenstra (IA-04) discussed the impact of the Biden administration’s proposed changes to capital gains and step-up in basis.
“Before changing policies that will result in higher taxes, it is important that we consider and understand how these proposals would affect the men and women who feed and fuel the world. We need to look towards solutions that help family farmers transition operations and bolster investments in our rural communities, not create huge tax liabilities for our family farms and main street businesses,” said Rep. Feenstra.
Click here or below to watch the hearing clip
Background
A new study from Texas A&M’s Agriculture and Food Policy Center confirms that eliminating step-up in basis could impact 98% of farm transitions. In his testimony today, Todd Erling from Hudson Valley AgriBusiness Development Corporation even admitted that “40% of American farmland [is] likely to change hands in the next 20 years.”
Feenstra has been a frequent critic of the Biden administration’s plan to raise taxes on farmers to pay for his massive spending plans, most recently challenging the Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on the proposed changes. In May, Feenstra joined his colleagues in writing a letter opposing Biden’s proposed changes to step-up basis and calling for such changes to be excluded from any future legislation.
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