By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A recurring theme in conversations with Republican members of Kansas congressional delegation at the Kansas State Fair was the danger of changing the law regarding the step up in basis for agriculture.
"My farm has been in the family for five generations," said U.S. Senator Roger Marshall. "My grandparents probably paid $50 an acre for that farm back in 1913. Today, that's worth $2000 an acre. If I inherit that land from my parents, uncle Joe Biden would want us to pay inheritance tax on the difference between the $50 and the $2000 an acre. We'd have to sell a third of the land to be able to keep farming what we have left."
First District congressman Tracey Mann actually tried to amend a bill to make sure that didn't happen when he was in Washington last week.
"We had an ag committee hearing, it went nine hours," Mann said. "I offered up an amendment to make sure we preserve the stepped up basis, that amendment was not willing to be considered by the majority party, however, we got assurances from the chairman of the House Ag Committee and others that this is a very high priority for them and they are working to make sure that we maintain the stepped up basis."
President Biden and many progressive Democrats believe the step-up allows millionaires and billionaires to pass companies and assets to their families for generations without ever paying a capital gains tax.
The problem as the Republican members of the Kansas delegation see it is that much of the value in a farm is in the land itself, which is why it would be likely that land would have to be sold if capital gains were taxed in the manner the administration wants to have considered.