Those favoring collection of death taxes cavalierly dismiss it as only affecting a small number of very wealthy Virginians. But the "very wealthy" typically can afford high-priced lawyers and accountants to help find legal ways to avoid the tax, or they can - and will - change domicile to any of the 30+ states that will have no death tax. Those hurt by the death tax are small business men and women, family farmers, and those they employ. Here are what a few family business owners have to say about the real-world impact of the death tax:

"The General Assembly had it exactly right when in an overwhelming bipartisan effort, they voted to abolish Virginia's death tax. Unfortunately, some are suggesting this punitive unfair tax should continue because the state can't afford to lose death tax dollars, all to the detriment of farmers and agribusiness. ... Often, the only option left is to sell off the farm to pay the taxes which simply leads to less farmland, less open space and more development."

Dale Gardner
Virginia Dairymen's Association

"The Estate Tax is an unfair burden on our agribusinesses and the 40,000 farmers of the Commonwealth. Repeal of the Virginia Estate Tax would help ensure the future and sustainability of agriculture, the state's leading economic industry."

Donna Pugh Johnson
President of the Virginia Agribusiness Council
Testimony before House Finance Subcommittee
January 22, 2003

The greatest part of America's wealth lies with family-owned businesses.

• According to the Virginia Family Business Forum at VCU, over 80 percent of all business enterprises in North America are family-owned.
• Family businesses account for 78 percent of all new job creation, 60 percent of the nation's employment and fifty percent of the Gross Domestic Product.

• Eliminating the unfair death tax will preserve farms, open spaces and historic battlefields. By not forcing families to sell land assets, we will protect open spaces from development.
• There are 49,000 farms in Virginia, operating on 8.7 million acres of some of the most pristine open space on the East Coast, if not the entire United States.
• Agriculture and forest industries make an annual $47 billion contribution to Virginia's economy.
• 98 percent of Virginia's farms are family owned and/or operated -- or about 48,000 family farms.
• According to the Joint Economic Committee of the United States Congress, "Through 2001, 2.6 million acres of forest land were harvested and 1.3 million acres were sold each year to raise funds to pay for estate taxes."
• Virginia must look at the ramifications of the death tax on these 48,000 farm families. Generations have worked this land, passed on to them from their parents and grandparents. Most of their assets -- like their ancestors -- are tied to the very land they work, in the equipment they must buy to work the land and the other costs incurred to run an agriculture business.
• But because the death tax takes into account these non-cash assets for tax purposes on these 98 percent of Virginia farms, their land and equipment often must be sold to pay the tax. Increasing property values, higher local tax assessments and increased development pressure only exacerbates the growing problem.
• Tremendous population growth in Virginia over the past fifteen years have made these farms inviting targets for developers, and this increasing development pressure has increased land values and tax rates. These increased property values are taken in to account for farmers being forced to pay the death tax. And they make the sale of open space and farmland to developers all the more inviting as a means to pay the death tax collector.

Learn more about how the Death Tax Impacts...