A group of 41 Senate Republicans is urging the Treasury Department to drop proposed regulations that would eliminate a popular tax strategy for minimizing estate and gift taxes.
The Treasury Department unveiled the
Senators John Thune, R-S.D., a member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who chairs the committee, led the group of 41 Republican senators in sending a
“The proposed regulations eliminate or greatly reduce the discounts for lack of control and lack of marketability for family farms and businesses and will thus discourage families from continuing to operate and build their businesses,” the senators wrote. “We ask that the proposed regulations not be finalized in their current form as they directly contradict long-standing legal precedent, create new uncertainty for taxpayers, and put family-owned businesses at a disadvantage relative to other types of businesses.”
They added that the proposed regulations represent a step back from the recently enacted permanent estate tax relief.
“Treasury should pursue policies that encourage the creation and growth of family businesses and not propose regulatory changes that make it more difficult and costly for families to transfer ownership to future generations,” the letter continued. “We thus request that Treasury withdraw the proposed regulations and ask that any regulations that Treasury may issue in the future more directly target perceived abuses in the valuation of transferred interests in family businesses.”