Minnesota farmer concerned tax proposals could fundamentally change structure of family farms

Kirby Hettver, a fifth-generation farmer from DeGraff, Minnesota, expressed concerns about proposed changes to the estate tax. Hettver believes that the proposed changes could “fundamentally change the way family farms are structured. 

Hettver stated, “Obviously we don’t want to make any decisions without knowing a little more about what exactly they are going to end up with.”

President Biden’s proposed changes, which include elimination of the stepped-up basis, will affect a lot of families, farm families included. The elimination of stepped-up basis would cause “inherited assets, like land, to be taxed upon the previous owner’s death, and lower the estate tax threshold from $11.7 million to $500,000.

Hettver further stated, “In order for us to maintain (the farm) and pass it onto the sixth generation, based on the new policies if we need to make changes we’ll have to figure out what rules we’re playing by and play by them.”

See Mark Dorenkamp, Minnesota farmer concerned tax proposals could fundamentally change structure of family farms, Brownfield Ag News, June 25, 2021. 

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.