If you’re like me, then you have been watching closely the progress of the Estate Tax Relief Bill. As the average age of the American farmer or rancher nears 60, agriculture businesses will start switching hands, and unfortunately, poor succession planning can result in the end of a long-standing family tradition. Here is a release that was published in Hoosier Ag Today about this estate tax relief bill…

H.R. 4154, the Permanent Estate Tax Relief for Families, Farmers, and Small Businesses Act of 2009, passed in the House of Representatives Thursday by a vote of 225 – 200. Introduced by North Dakota Representative Earl Pomeroy, the bill would permanently extend the death tax. It would exclude amounts up to 3.5-million single and 7-million married, and permanently set the death tax rate at 45 percent. Under current law the death tax would expire in 2010. According to Palmeroy, “This bill will provide full and permanent estate tax relief for 99.75 percent of families, farmers, and small businesses in this country, who would not have to pay any estate tax.” Pomeroy adds, this bill will, “Provide the stability families need to make long-term decisions and avoid the estate planning roller coaster that will result from current law.”