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Committee hears bill to phase out Minnesota estate tax; advocates say farms at risk
Summary
The Minnesota House Tax Committee heard testimony on House File 170, which would phase out the state estate tax over several years. Supporters said the change would protect family farms; opponents said it would benefit wealthy heirs and reduce general fund revenue. The committee laid the bill over for further consideration.
House File 170, a bill to phase out Minnesota’s estate tax, was discussed at a House Tax Committee hearing where sponsors, state staff and agricultural advocates debated the measure’s scope, fiscal cost and likely beneficiaries.
House Research staff described the bill as a phased elimination: “House File 170 would reduce the rate under each one of the rates in the bracket structure of the estate tax by 1.6 percentage points over a period of 10 years until each one of the rates hit 0,” the nonpartisan staff told the committee. The staff added the phase-out would take roughly seven to 10 years for all rates to reach zero.
The bill’s author, Representative Davids (Chair), and witnesses framed the proposal as a protection for family farms. Hunter Peterson, public policy specialist for the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation, told the committee estate…
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