WASHINGTON (March 27, 2015) — By a 22-10 vote March 25, the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee passed H.R. 1105, the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015.
Introduced Feb. 26 by Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, H.R. 1105 would repeal estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes permanently upon enactment.
The estate tax is universally unpopular among small business owners, and most small business associations — including the Tire Industry Association (TIA) — have long advocated its repeal.
“TIA believes the estate tax is hurting family-owned businesses because the cost of the estate tax comes not only from paying the tax, but also from estate planning,” said Roy Littlefield IV, TIA government affairs manager, in March 18 testimony before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures.
“Much of the value of family-owned business is tied to illiquid assets such as land, buildings and equipment,” Mr. Littlefield said. “This can force the new owner to sell the businesses' assets to pay the tax.”
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) hailed the passage of H.R. 1105, which it said was the first up-and-down vote on an estate tax repeal bill in a decade.
“While Congress has taken significant steps to reduce the impact of the estate tax on small businesses, it's clear that small business owners remain vehemently opposed to this confiscatory and unproductive tax,” said Matt Turkstra, NFIB manager of legislative affairs.
The bill now moves to the floor of the House of Representatives.