Washington, D.C. (March 1, 2021)—Congressman Ron Kind (D-Wis.) and a bipartisan group of 11 other members of the House Ways and Means Committee sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen late last week asking her to withdraw or delay regulations that increase taxes on farmers and ranchers.
The regulations would implement Section 199A(g) of the tax code for farmer cooperatives; this was the fix to the so-called grain glitch. The rule, issued by then Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on his last day in office, changes the calculation of the deduction in a way that means that farmer-members of co-ops will end up paying more in taxes. This action was in direct conflict with the express will of Congress when it passed the grain glitch fix.
“The final regulations do not reflect the statutory construction of section 199A(g), the legislative history, the regulatory authority provided to Treasury with respect to this provision, and relevant case law,” the Ways & Means members state. “They reflect a misunderstanding of the operations of a farmer cooperative and its relationship with its farmer-patrons. Most importantly, the final regulations impose unwarranted financial burdens on farmers at a time when farm communities are struggling.”
A copy of the letter can be found at http://ncfc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/2021.02.26-Kind-199Ag-Letter-to-Treasury.pdf.
NCFC President and CEO Chuck Conner, commenting on the letter, said, “I would like to thank Congressman Kind for his leadership on this issue and recognize the other members of the committee, both Democrats and Republicans, who joined him in sending this letter. Now that Secretary Yellen has had time to fill out the staff at Treasury, we look forward to meeting with the new team to review the history of this issue and ask that the regulation be withdrawn or, at a minimum, delayed.”
About NCFC
Since 1929, NCFC has been the voice of America’s farmer cooperatives. Our members are regional and national farmer cooperatives, which are in turn composed of nearly 2,000 local farmer cooperatives across the country. NCFC members also include 26 state and regional councils of cooperatives. Farmer cooperatives allow individual farmers the ability to own and lead organizations that are essential for continued competitiveness in both the domestic and international markets.
America’s farmer-owned cooperatives provide a comprehensive array of services for their members. These diverse organizations handle, process and market virtually every type of agricultural commodity. They also provide farmers with access to infrastructure necessary to manufacture, distribute and sell a variety of farm inputs. Additionally, they provide credit and related financial services, including export financing.
