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| Key Business Leader Says `Protect Our Future` |
June 19, 2003 |
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>B>Albuquerque, NM - Jimmy Trujillo, chairman of the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce, says he wants to see the Estate Tax repealed permanently. Trujillo represents many of Albuquerque`s small businesses in his role as Hispano Chamber Chairman, but he also runs the tax department at REDW-a 50-year-old accounting firm based in Albuquerque. Trujillo oversees tax services for hundreds of New Mexico`s small businesses. Through his work as a tax professional, he`s seen close-up how the Estate Tax affects family-owned businesses.
Congresswoman Heather Wilson agrees with Trujillo and voted with the 264-163 majority on Wednesday as the U.S. House moved to make permanent the phase-out and ultimate elimination of the death tax.
"The death tax hurts farmers, ranchers, and small business owners twice," said Wilson. "Employees of these businesses often lose their jobs because the tax can be more than half of the value of the business."
The Death Tax Repeal Permanency Act, H.R. 8, lifts the 2010 sunset on legislation that Congress passed in 2001 to phase out the death tax. Currently, the death tax carries a maximum rate of 55 percent and a unified credit exemption of only $1 million. The Senate still must act on H.R. 8 before it can be sent to the President and signed into law.
"Permanent repeal of the estate tax is what`s going to preserve capital and allow businesses here today to be here 50 and 100 years from now," says Trujillo, who says his accounting and tax firm is the largest in the state.
The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 phased out the death tax and eliminated it completely in 2010. However, the tax will be reimposed in 2011 under a Senate rule unless Congress acts to make the repeal permanent.
In order to pay the enormous tax bill caused by the estate tax, many families have been forced to sell businesses or farms that employ a lot of people. According to the National Federation of Independent Business, more than 70 percent of family businesses do not survive the second generation and 87 percent do not make it to a third generation. Sixty percent of small business owners report that they would create new jobs over the coming year if death taxes were eliminated.
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