U.S. Reps. Randy Feenstra of Iowa and Sanford Bishop from Georgia are leading efforts to get the Death Tax Repeal Act passed in the House. Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota is pushing for a similar outcome on a Senate companion bill. Repealing the death tax, or the federal estate tax, is a top priority for NCBA this year.
“The death tax isn’t pro-growth—it’s a death warrant for family businesses. It’s the top threat to the future of family farms and ranches, and U.S. cattle producers need relief from this insidious tax,” said NCBA President and Nebraska cattleman Buck Wehrbein.
Family-owned farms and ranches operate on limited cash flow, he explained, with most of their value tied up in land. As farmland and pastureland values rise, more producers will be hit with this punitive tax, forcing them to sell assets or take on debt, sometimes paying the death tax multiple times. In fact, according to Wehrbein, a recent NCBA tax survey showed that 33% of respondents had paid the tax and 35% of them had paid it more than once.
Current death tax relief is set to expire at the end of 2025, so Congress must act soon to provide permanent relief for family operations. If the federal estate tax exemption reverts to pre-2017 limits, coupled with the rapid inflation of farmland values, many more families will be subject to the tax. .