WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, joined Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Senate Majority Whip John Thune of South Dakota and dozens of his Senate colleagues in re-introducing legislation to permanently repeal the federal estate tax, more commonly known as the death tax.
“Congress ought to do everything possible to encourage family enterprises to get next generations involved and keep the doors open for business,” Grassley said. “It’s getting harder all the time to keep a farm or small business in the family from one generation to the next. The estate tax doesn’t serve any purpose except forcing family farms and family-run businesses to waste precious capital on costly tax planning and in too many cases, paying taxes on income or property that have already been taxed once. Rather than sending even more taxes to Washington, D.C, it would be far better to allow family farms to keep this money so they can invest in the rural communities they are located in to create new opportunities.”
In addition to Grassley, McConnell and Thune, the bill is cosponsored by U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, John Barrasso of Wyoming, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Roy Blunt of Missouri, John Boozman of Arkansas, John Cornyn of Texas, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Mike Crapo of Idaho, Ted Cruz of Texas, Steve Daines of Montana, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Deb Fischer of Nebraska, Cory Gardner of Colorado, John Hoeven of North Dakota, Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, James Inhofe of Oklahoma, Johnny Isakson of Georgia, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Jerry Moran of Kansas, David Perdue of Georgia, Jim Risch of Idaho, Pat Roberts of Kansas, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Marco Rubio of Florida, and Todd Young of Indiana.
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