Senate Passes Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Doesn’t Kill The Death Tax

Late Friday night, the Senate joined the House in passing its tax reform framework, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, in a 51-49 vote. For decades, family businesses of all sizes have operated under an outdated and complicated tax code. The passage of the Senate tax reform bill is another step toward lasting reform that simplifies the tax system, reduces tax burdens on small businesses, and boosts income for workers. The Senate tax reform proposal remedies several significant shortcomings of the current code by reducing the corporate rate to 20 percent, lowering taxes for pass-through businesses, allowing businesses to immediately and fully expense new equipment for five years, and maintaining the LIFO accounting method that many companies rely on to value their inventory. While the Senate bill takes a sizable bite out of the death tax by doubling the exemption, it does not fully repeal the tax. Under the Senate plan, individual filers with $11 million and families with $22 million or more in assets will still be subjected to the death tax. The House version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act includes the full repeal of the death tax by 2024 – a provision that FBC fully supports and hopes will endure the conference process. FBC encourages members of both chambers to stand by their principles and remember their promise to Americans to create a fairer system that levels the playing field and extends economic opportunities to American workers, small businesses, and middle-income families. Full repeal of the death tax is a vital part of delivering on that promise, and we look forward to working with Congress to finally bring about a lasting end to this unfair and destructive tax.