In a Fox Business interview, President Donald Trump put a priority on health care reform before he’ll turn his attention to tax reform. The President said in the interview, “I have to do health care first. I really want to do it right.” He says tax reform is critical to the economy and to large and small businesses. However, he says healthcare reform could potentially save hundreds of millions of dollars, which would then help tax reform. “We’re saving tremendous amounts of money when we get this done,” Trump said, “and all that savings will go into tax reform.” The biggest tax reform that agriculture would like to see is a repeal of the estate tax. Over 30 Ag organizations like the American Farm Bureau sent a letter to House Ways and Means Committee Chair Kevin Brady, a Texas Republican, and ranking Democrat Richard Neal of Massachusetts. The letter called the estate tax “especially damaging to agriculture because it’s a land-based, capital-intensive industry with few options for paying the estate tax when it comes due.” The groups also asked lawmakers to make sure the benefits of estate tax repeal aren’t undermined by eliminating or restricting the use of the stepped-up basis.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting news service.