Thune Leads Effort to Permanently Repeal the Death Tax
45 senators cosponsor legislation to end the punishing, burdensome tax
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today led 45 of his Senate colleagues, including Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, in reintroducing legislation that would permanently repeal the federal estate tax, commonly known as the death tax. The Death Tax Repeal Act would end this purely punitive tax that can hit family-run farms, ranches, and businesses as the result of the owner’s death.
“Family farms and ranches play a vital role in our economy and are the lifeblood of rural communities in South Dakota,” said Thune. “Losing even one of them to the death tax is one too many. It’s time to put an end to this punishing, burdensome tax once and for all so that family farms, ranches and small businesses can grow and thrive without costly estate planning or massive tax burdens that can threaten their viability.”
“Small businesses are the lifeblood of Idaho’s economy, and family farmers, ranchers and entrepreneurs have often worked lifetimes to grow their businesses,” said Crapo. “The death tax can be a devastating blow to American families who want to pass down their farm or small business to the next generation. It’s time to permanently provide relief from this unfair tax.”
“South Dakota’s farmers and ranchers should not have to worry that their business will die with them because of the death tax,” said Scott VanderWal, president of the South Dakota Farm Bureau. “I thank Senator Thune for leading this important legislation in Congress and for his unwavering commitment to protect agricultural producers from this crippling tax burden and costly estate planning expenses.”
“Mom and pop business owners often spend a lifetime building a viable business that they can pass on to the next generation, but the estate tax presents a very real obstacle,” said Nathan Sanderson, executive director of the South Dakota Retailers Association. “Repealing the estate tax will provide peace of mind for hard-working families who want nothing more than to continue serving their communities for generations to come.”
The legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Sens. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), John Curtis (R-Utah), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), John Kennedy (R-La.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), and Todd Young (R-Ind.). Companion legislation was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa).
Thune, who has made death tax repeal a priority for a long time, led the Senate’s attempt to repeal the estate tax while Congress considered the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) in 2017. Although the final version of the TCJA did not repeal the death tax, the law effectively doubled the individual estate and gift tax exclusion to $10 million (approximately $13.9 million in 2025 dollars) through 2025, which prevents more families and generationally-owned businesses from being affected by this tax. The increased exclusion expires at the end of 2025, which increases uncertainty and planning costs for family-owned businesses, farms, and ranches.
Thune’s bill is supported by more than 190 members of the Family Business Coalition and more than 105 members of the Family Business Estate Tax Coalition, which includes the National Federation of Independent Business, the National Restaurant Association, the National Association of Home Builders, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
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Somehow the wackadoodles will find a way to call Thune a RINO for this
“Thune, who has made death tax repeal a priority for a long time, led the Senate’s attempt to repeal the estate tax while Congress considered the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) in 2017.”
He most certainly has. And he has been wrong this whole time.
Elon Musk, who literally has enough money to buy every home in ND, SD and MT could pass down his entire 375 BILLION dollar fortune to his heirs without their paying a dime in income taxes. YOU can then pay those taxes from your modest income.
I know, I know… they always claim it’s for the small businessman or farmer. But that is a complete fiction. The current exemption before tax is almost 14 million dollars per individual. Wow, that is some small farm.
And they will tell you that these billionaires have already paid the tax. Not true. They don’t pay until they realize a gain – when they sell their company or stock. If they die before selling, neither they nor their heirs pay, with the help of Sen. Thune’s genius plan. And their tax avoidance can continue for generation after generation.
But you… you… will pay. Your heirs will pay. They won’t be eliminating your taxes. Well, unless you are going to inherit more than 14 million bucks.
I agree with Elk on this.
A few notes: the current $13.99 M exemption is set to expire this year and revert back to $7M. This should be extended.
For those who argue that farms can easily exceed that value consider the fact that the average value of farm land is SD is $4,350 per A and the average farm size is 1,495 A (USDA numbers). That means if you value the equipment and building sites etc at $3M and the land at $10M that would allow the transfer of 2,298 A of crop land PER HEIR or 7,874 acres of pasture ($1,270 per A USDA source).
I think the $13.99M exemption is more then enough to support the average farmer and may even help level the playing field to younger smaller farmers and ranchers.
But I would love to hear others insight into this.
This will only benefit the super wealthy. It will have zero benefit to 99.9% of the population.
Looking out for the 500 richest families in SD.
Meanwhile… Dusty Johnson announces today that he wants to RAISE taxes on electric vehicle purchases. But what’s a thousand dollars to you middle class folks?
How much of other people’s life earnings do you really believe you’re entitled to?
Of course they earned it on their own and not based on publicly funded infrastructure or exploited labor. Go simp for elon somewhere else.
Ah, to you everything is owned by the government (the collective), no one really owns anything based on their own efforts.
No, I just expect those who make a majority of the income to pay a majority of the taxes. If I hand my kids my business assets and they are taxed, why shouldn’t farmers?
Actually, those who make the majority of the income do pay the majority of taxes.
https://www.ntu.org/foundation/tax-page/who-pays-income-taxes#:~:text=The%20top%2010%25%20of%20earners,income%20taxes%20paid%20in%202021.
I don’t think you comprehend what I am saying. The top 1% pay 40% of the taxes, but last I heard, they make 60-70% of the total income earned. Sounds like we should double what they pay. I shouldn’t pay a higher overall tax rate than billionaires.
You pay more than 37% on your income? Doubtful as that is the tax bracket for those earning $1M.
My rate falls in the 20-30% range. The billionaires land around 10%. It sounds like you don’t understand how taxes work.
Elk has had a jealousy stick up his ass about this for a long time. He thoroughly supports a tax on success because I’m guessing he hasn’t been very successful.
Jealous? You know nothing about me and, evidently, nothing about the issue being discussed.
It’s one of the dumbest ideas imaginable.
Bingo!
It’s Bingo alright. Massive jackpot for billionaires.
You obviously have no clue about current land values. It doesn’t take a very large operation to wander into estate tax problems. Having to sell the farm or ranch to pay the tax isn’t a good food security policy.
This is a false scare tactic. The estate tax impacts less than 1% if the population.
And if it passes, how does the billions it generates get replaced? That’s on top of the $1 trillion in proposed tax cuts!
Until farm subsidies get slashed, the average South Dakotan and the average American will not wake up and realize that republicans routinely get people to vote against their self interest for the direct benefit of the super wealthy. It’s a con job.
The Republican’s entire platform is socialized risk and privatized profit and the poor and middle class eat it up. It’s hilarious to watch them work against themselves while they dream of becoming something.
You don’t support taxing the wealthy because you hope to someday get there, which is hilarious.
You support overtaxing the wealthy because you know you will never get there.
Define overtaxing. I’m pretty sure having them pay the same overall rate as every other middle class worker is not overtaxing.
https://youtu.be/w12obStHJDE?si=qXCgMGEf7LbbWwjk
20 years later and he might get it done.
There is no logical justification for eliminating taxes on the wealthiest Americans so Thune used emotion in that old ad.
Most Americans get little or no inheritance. They continue to pay taxes, after a parent dies, on their hard-earned income. But our Senators seem to think that millionaires and billionaires must be free from such burdens.
“Anonymous says:
February 14, 2025 at 8:15 am
You support overtaxing the wealthy because you know you will never get there.”
how juvenile and asinine
It’s an estate tax and those who think it’s a “danger” are either rich idiots too stupid to estate plan or rubes who don’t realize it doesn’t apply to them. The rest who support it’s repeal are simply greedy entitled brats or want their kids to be that.
And those like you must be socialists parasites thinking you should be entitled to living off the success of others. We understand now.
I’ve heard this argument before: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs”.
A quote from Karl Marx, the liberal/democrat/socialist hero.
I believe that the average inheritance is about $46,000. The top 1% inherit one million dollars or so.
But the Senator is proposing raising the exemption from the already massive 14 million dollars to an UNLIMITED amount. Billions in tax savings for the wealthiest Americans.
Just ONE WEALTHY FAMILY could get a tax cut as big as 25 billion or even 50 billion dollars. But it doesn’t stop there. The same goes for the generation after them, and the one after that. This is insane.
This would benefit only a few families in South Dakota in a given year. Those inheriting more than 14 million. And bump up the tax burden on the rest of us. Who could possibly think this is a good idea?
“Death” tax, MCOOL, and broadband expansion: Perennial efforts that lead nowhere but give lots of opportunities for SD senators to put out press releases.
Great if you are a billionaire with kids that don’t want to work but keep looking up to them just because they have money….
And you just keep playing the victim card…
I know some of you thought I exaggerated when I wrote Musk (or his heirs) could buy every home in SD, ND and MT. That just can’t be right, can it? Well, do the math.
OK OK… I will do it.
$375,000,000,000 divided by $302,000 average SD home value equals 1,241,721 homes. Ah… but South Dakota only has 340,000 households.
And 46 Republican US Senators think THEY need another tax break?
Ya we get it….you believe the government should be able to confiscate wealth or at least determine how much wealth someone should have permission to have.
So, you agree with my numbers?
And you agree with my statements.
Well, my friend, governments have been “confiscating” wealth for four thousand years. The USA is no different. Are taxes not a necessity?
Yes they are a necessity. But you think it is necessary to confiscated family wealth because you don’t think the heirs deserve it. Who are you to make that determination, my friend?
A necessity, yes. Never said they weren’t. You, however, are advocating for the confiscating of family wealth because you don’t think the heirs deserve it. Who are you to make thatcall?
Has Musk paid income taxes on his 375 billion? No, of course not. And his kids won’t under John Thune’s plan. Neither will his grandchildren or great-grandchildren. Taxes are for the little guy, you know.
TO YOU, this makes sense?
He doesn’t make 375B a year. These are his assets. Do you pay income taxes on the appreciated value of your home ? Why not? Shouldn’t you? Based on your argument you should.
Of course they are his assets.
You are trying to pretend that people become billionaires without income. Their income is just in the form of asset appreciation. If they sell their business or stock, then they pay tax, but the super-rich have no need to sell. They can just pass it on.
So answer the question, should you pay income taxes on the annual increase in asset vallue? A simple yes or no.
Yes or no? How about… why?
You are the one who is saying increases in asset value should be taxed as income. So stop deflecting.
Of course we pay on increased value of our home. My property taxes went up. How is that different than taxing capital gains, especially when they never cash them out and they live off loans. They basically get tax free income.
Every time your home appreciates, your taxes go up. That is basically a tax on gains without selling.
Rather than a complete abolition of estate tax, how about an exemption of $100 million per individual and $200 million per couple? That would seem to cover 99% of family farms and family run businesses.
$100 to $200 million?
Hey… I have an idea… how about reducing taxes for people making $100,000 to $200,000.
Those simping for billionaires to never see their children pay taxes must have never heard about the growing inequality and obscene concentration of wealth problems we are facing down the barrel.