GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump reached out to farmers during a stop in Iowa, vowing to repeal the estate tax in a speech Saturday.
“We are going to get rid of the regulations that are driving the farmers out of business,” Trump said in Spencer, Iowa. “We are going to get rid of the estate taxes that are making the farmers sell their farms. I understand it. You have farmers out there who are wealthy but they are a little bit cash short.”
{mosads}The estate tax — branded by critics as a death tax — is paid on assets that are left to heirs after a person’s death. There are broad exemptions for individuals with estates of less than about $5.5 million and couples with estates with less than $11 million.
Republicans, who broadly support repeal, say the tax hits farmers and small business owners the most.
“It is a very bad thing, and it is killing people in Iowa,” Trump said. “I know that for a fact.”
House Republican voted overwhelmingly to kill the tax earlier this year, arguing that individual’s assets are being taxed multiple times. However, the bill never made its way through the Senate and is opposed by most Democrats.