SMALL BUSINESS HOPING TO SEE THE DEATH TAX DEEP SIXED
BOSTON (October
19, 2015): The state’s largest small business advocacy group, the National
Federation of Independent Business, is supporting the abolition of the death
tax in Massachusetts. “Massachusetts is in a minority of states that still have
a tax on death and we believe Massachusetts is depriving itself of economic
benefits that would flow if we would get in the mainstream and eliminate this
tax,” NFIB State Director Bill Vernon said.
“The estate tax
is second only to health insurance costs as an issue that concerns small
business owners. The death tax has a disproportionate impact on small business
owners, including farmers, and their families because their estates are often
made up of assets like land, buildings, equipment, and other non-liquid assets.
For an entrepreneur, paying an estate tax could affect the continuation of the
business, the family’s income and the jobs of the workers at the business,”
Vernon explained. “In addition, the death tax forces small business owners to
spend significant sums for financial planning during their lifetimes,
especially with Massachusetts’ relatively small tax exemption. The alternatives
for many small business owners are to sell their business or farmland or to
migrate from Massachusetts and take their wealth and spending with them.”
Testimony on
legislation to abolish the death tax (House Bill No. 2612 and Senate Bill No.
1478) will be heard by the Joint Committee on Revenue on Tuesday. Indiana,
Tennessee, Maryland and New York are the latest in a number of states that have
reformed or repealed their estate tax laws.
“The revenue from
the estate tax is minimal in the context of Massachusetts’ $40 billion budget.
Eliminating the death tax will not have a significant impact on the state’s
finances and the increased economic activity and the retention of wealth
resulting from repeal will mitigate any losses for the state,” Vernon said. “It
is time for Massachusetts to recognize the death tax’s negative impact on
economic growth and join most of other states in abolishing the state’s death
tax or at least begin to phase it out.”
