In response to the White House continually spreading misinformation and false promises regarding the impact of President Biden’s tax plan on America’s family farms and businesses, Republican Leader of the House Agriculture Committee, Glenn “GT” Thompson, issued the following statement:
“President Biden continues to make major, complex tax policy promises without explaining how they will work. Farmers, ranchers, and small businesses’ livelihoods are at stake. Family businesses are far more important than feel-good, 'tax-the-rich' messaging from this Administration and Twitter activists. There are real families and real farms the President is putting in jeopardy,” Thompson said.
In June, Republican Leader Thompson and Senator Boozman, Republican Leader of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, announced a report from the experts at Texas A&M University’s Agricultural and Food Policy Center (AFPC) detailing the devastating impact President Biden’s tax code changes could have on family farms. The report found 92 of AFPC’s 94 farms in the study would be impacted with an average additional tax liability of more than $720,000 per farm.
“While the White House may want to disregard the work of AFPC, the reality is hard-working men and women that feed, clothe, and power our nation and the world will be irreparably harmed from these policies,” Thompson continued. “If President Biden is so confident his plan will adequately exempt full-time family farmers from these punitive taxes, then I urge him to release the details of this alleged exemption immediately.”
The AFPC study could not model an agriculture exemption because the President and his allies have repeatedly refused to explain how such an exemption will function in practice. To date, we have heard only platitudes and hollow promises to protect farmers. With no proposed agriculture exemption to consider, fundamental questions remain, including:
- What family members would be eligible?
- What activities must be undertaken to qualify?
- What will happen if some heirs farm and some heirs do not?
- How will this new tax burden interact with current tax law, including depreciation, the gift exclusion, and inheritance taxes?
- How will tangible personal property be defined and treated?
“I thank my Democratic colleagues on Committee, including Chairman Scott, who have been vocal in opposition to the President’s tax agenda as it relates to farm families. Unfortunately, marking up the Agriculture Committee’s provisions of the reconciliation package without assurances from the White House that these proposals are off the table is a de facto endorsement of them,” Thompson concluded.
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