news

Congressman Bob Latta (R-Bowling Green) made the following statement today after voting against H.R. 4154, the Permanent Estate Tax Relief for Families, Farmers, and Small Businesses Act of 2009.

“The estate tax, better known as the death tax, is one of the greatest problems facing our farmers and small business owners in the United States.  This tax punishes the hard work and investments these people have made during their lifetime, forcing many families to sell off land, equipment, and assets in order to pay the tax.  With this bill, small businesses and farmers who are already struggling during this economic downturn must pay Uncle Sam instead of hiring more employees or increasing production.  Congress must continue to find ways to improve our nation’s economy and put people back to work, but this bill only cripples those efforts.” 

H.R. 4154 would permanently extend the estate tax on assets transferred following a death.   The legislation would make permanent the 2009 rate of 45 percent and the $3.5 million exemption.  In addition, H.R. 4154 would not index the exemption rate to inflation.  Under current law, the estate tax is set to expire in 2010 and then revert to the pre-2001 levels (55 percent) in 2011. 
 
On March 26, Congressman Latta introduced H.R. 1763, the Responsible Reinvestment Act of 2009, which includes language to permanently repeal the estate tax.  During his tenure in the Ohio General Assembly, Congressman Latta was successful in eliminating 78 percent of the estate tax filers.