“Death Tax” Should be Eliminated; Reduction a Good Start
State Representative Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich) supports the efforts of the Illinois Farm Bureau to reduce the burden on families who are forced to shut down their farms with the help of proposed bipartisan legislation in House Bill 4600. However, Niemerg has proposed legislation for a larger relief on everyone including family farms and small businesses when a loved one dies because of the overburden of the estate tax in Illinois. Rep. Niemerg is the sponsor of House Bill 1576 that would double the exemption in Illinois to $8 million.
“I have been fighting for two years to at least double the death tax exemption from $4 million dollar level to $8 million and then to $12 million at the very least to match the federal exemption level,” explained Rep. Adam Niemerg, a member of the Labor & Commerce Committee. “I feel there should not be any tax on families when their loved one dies. It is wrong to penalize the widow and children of the deceased who worked hard their whole lives to build something to leave to their children and the next generation of farmers. But any reduction in the tax liability is good start.”
Rep. Niemerg has communicated with fellow legislators and the Governor about reducing the tax burden on families through changes of the estate tax and is cautiously optimistic that there may be a change in policy by the Democrats in the General Assembly and the Governor’s office. House Bill 1576 was assigned to the Revenue & Finance Committee last year but then reassigned back to the Rules Committee where it has not received any testimony or vote yet. To learn more about Rep. Niemerg’s legislation, you may read it and follow the status at ilga.gov.