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National Farmers Union watching tax reform

The National Farmers Union is looking at how possible changes to federal tax policy might impact farmers.

President Rob Larew says several provisions from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 expire in 2025.

“First of all, we’re always going to be looking at whether or not any tax cuts or any pay-fors if you will for these policies are going to impact family farmers and ranchers. So we’re going to be watching that very closely.”

He tells Brownfield there’s precedent for unintended consequences when Congress writes a tax bill.

“And a little bit of a battle over some co-op provisions. I hope we can learn from those mistakes of the past and we won’t have to revisit that.”

Larew suggests the price tag for a new tax bill will be enormous.

“And too often the pay-fors don’t quite cover that, so they’re going to be looking for a lot of programs to cut in order to pay for them. What does that mean to farm bill programs? Are there going to be elements that end up getting wrapped into this package in order to pay for it?”

Brownfield interviewed Larew during the Minnesota Farmers Union Convention in Minneapolis last month.

The increased federal estate tax exemption is scheduled to sunset in 2025, which is a concern for many farms as well as family-owned small businesses.