Farm Groups Urge Senate to Pass Tax Relief Legislation
Dustin Sherer
Director, Government Affairs
Micheal Clements
News Service Editor, NAFB
photo credit: AFBF Photo, Philip Gerlach
A coalition of farm groups this week urged senate leadership to pass the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act. Micheal Clements shares more on what the legislation provides agriculture.
Clements: The American Farm Bureau Federation and a coalition of agricultural groups are asking the Senate to pass the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, which passed in the House of Representatives with broad bipartisan support. AFBF government affairs director Dustin Sherer says the need is now.
Sherer: There are a number of provisions in this bill that are important to the ag industry, and it needs to get done now and that it can't wait until 2025. And so, they need to find a way, whether or not it’s voting on the bill as is, or coming to a compromise on some of the provisions and then moving forward, they need to find a way to get this bill done now.
Clements: Important to agriculture is Section 179 expensing, and bonus depreciation, which is phasing down.
Sherer: With that phasing down 20 percent year over year and the loss of your ability to buy and sell under 1031, farmers’ tax bills are going up and they're losing their ability to minimize their tax liability, invest back into their business the way that they want to, into this equipment that's helped them make their operations more efficient, more resilient, more sustainable, as they want to do and as the public wants them to do.
Clements: Sherer urges farmers and ranchers to contact their lawmakers.
Sherer: They can reach out to their respective Senators, whether through email or through a phone call, and have their Senators urge leadership to bring the bill to the floor or to find a compromise bill and bring that to the floor and get this bill to the President's desk as soon as possible. It can't wait until ’25, it needs to get done now.
Clements: Learn more at fb.org. Micheal Clements, Washington.
