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Press Releases

Boozman Calls for Repeal of Death Tax to Create Jobs

Cosponsors bill to eliminate federal estate tax

Jun 20 2013

WASHINGTON – The federal government should eliminate the death tax to create jobs, U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) said this week while helping to introduce the Death Tax Repeal Permanency Act of 2013 (S. 1183), a bill that would permanently end the federal estate tax that punishes our small business owners and agriculture producers. 

According to a recent study, the permanent elimination of the death tax—the punitive tax on family farms, ranches, and businesses upon the death of an owner—could create up to a million and a half new jobs at small businesses across the country.

“Hardworking Americans should be allowed to pass down their family businesses and farms without losing a sizable percentage to the government. The IRS’s ability to force the sale of family farms or the closure of small businesses goes against the fundamental principles of our nation,” Boozman said. “This bill will allow our agriculture producers and small businesses to invest and expand their operations rather than force them to spend that money hiring attorneys and accountants.”

The death tax forces an unnecessary burden on America’s family farms and businesses following the death of a loved one. H.R. 8, the “American Taxpayer Relief Act,” raised the death tax to a 40 percent rate, while maintaining the $5 million exemption.   

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the former director of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, released a study that reported that by repealing the death tax, 1.5 million additional small business jobs would be created, reducing the national unemployment rate by nearly one percent.

The Death Tax Repeal Permanency Act of 2013 (S. 1183), as introduced by Senator John Thune (R-SD), has the support of the American Farm Bureau Federation, Associated Builders and Contractors, National Association of Manufacturers, National Federation of Independent Business and many other prominent associations. Boozman and over 25 members of the Senate signed on as original cosponsors of the bill.

Boozman cosponsored a similar bill last Congress. He has also previously introduced his own legislation to permanently repeal the federal estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer taxes.