Byron Dorgan: “Today I'm reintroducing several bills that are needed to fix glaring problems in our Internal Revenue Code. Clearly, the…”

“Today I'm reintroducing several bills that are needed to fix glaring problems in our Internal Revenue Code. Clearly, the issue of tax cuts will be the subject of extensive debate in the coming months. I think a responsible new tax relief plan could be crafted to ease the tax burden on working families and others who need it. I also believe that if the expected surpluses materialize, a significant part should be used to pay down the federal debt. But, as we move forward with this debate about new tax breaks, I think Congress needs to remember that there are a number of tax fairness matters pending from previous years that we must address without any further delay. First, when Congress enacted a new $500,000 capital gains exclusion for home sales in 1997, it offered a good deal to those families who live in urban areas affected by rising home and land prices. Unfortunately, this provision offers little or no benefits for family farmers because their farm homes are part of the larger farmstead. By itself, the farmhouse often has little value in relation to the surrounding farmland and buildings. This means that farmers who are selling the whole farm because they are retiring or who are being forced out of business because of the downturn in the farm economy may face a hefty tax bill at a time they can least afford it.”