The pork industry says the tax bills moving in Congress are “marginally beneficial to the industry,” which continues to pursue improvements as the measures continue to advance. The pork industry is generally pleased with the House-passed and Senate-Finance-passed tax bills, but National Pork Producers’ (NPPC) Dustin Baker says NPPC is seeking added changes.
Baker says the three breaks are used widely enough in agriculture that their retention is needed to spur economic growth. Other breaks include expansion of Section 179 expensing, lower rates for “pass-through” small businesses, and doubling of the estate tax exemption. Baker says pork producers have long supported tax reform.
The Senate is expected to debate its GOP tax bill as soon as lawmakers return from the Thanksgiving break next week. The bill’s ending of a key break for state and local tax payments, sunsetting other individual breaks, and repeal of the Obamacare penalty for not carrying health insurance are stumbling blocks to passage.
But Republicans are expected to make enough changes to try and “thread the needle” in passing the bill with a bare minimum of 50-votes, plus a tie-breaking vote by the vice-president.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.