A Continued Fight for Permanent Repeal of the Death Tax

More than a month into the new 108th Congress, U.S. cattle producers continue to urge the importance of permanent repeal of the Death Tax.

“There’s some misinformation out there that the Death Tax never put a farmer or rancher out of business. That’s completely bogus propaganda,” says Jay Truitt, executive director of legislative affairs for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA).  “We are living proof, there are endless names, real people suffering.  So many producers have been drastically affected, and some operations have lost everything over the years as a result of this immoral tax on death.”

The Lightsey family of central Florida is just one real-world example that illustrates the seriousness of this plight for cattle producers.

"Our story is no different than that of countless other ranching families from across the country,” says Cary Lightsey.  “All we want to do is preserve our land and ranching operation to pass on to our children, yet the government has made this an extremely difficult and burdensome task."

When Lightsey's father, Doyle, passed away suddenly in 1973 at the age of 56 the family had no idea what they were in store for. "Dad left behind a wife and three young children with no form of estate planning, not even a will. In the middle of dealing with our loss we got hit with an estate tax in excess of $1 million that was to be paid within a year," says Lightsey.

"Because of our location, much of our land was appraised as commercial and well above its agriculture value. We are a ranching family. Part of our ranch has been in our family since 1890 and we want to preserve that way of life. It is not fair for the government to come in and punish us because of the value they place on our land due to the commercialization of our state.

"The whole process has taken its toll on our family," says Lightsey. "That is the thing with the death tax -- it keeps coming back from one generation to the next.”

In the House, the Death Tax Permanency Act of 2003, (H.R.57), which calls for permanent repeal, was introduced last month by Rep. Jennifer Dunn (WA-8). The bill was referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. As of today, 131 members have signed on as cosponsors of the bill. Similar legislation in the Senate, titled Permanent Death Tax Repeal Act of 2003 (S.169), was introduced by Sen. John Kyl (AZ) and has been referred to the Committee on Finance.