(Washington, D.C., March 14, 2018) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Greg Ibach today issued the following statement regarding an agreement among Congressional leaders to address concerns with recent changes to Section 199A of the federal tax code. Some agriculture stakeholders had raised questions about potential market effects on cooperatives and independent grain-related businesses.
Ibach’s statement is as follows:
“The sweeping tax cuts and reform package championed by President Trump and passed by Congress is already working as designed, empowering growth across all economic sectors, including agriculture. An unintended consequence of the new law caused disparate treatment among independent operators and cooperatives in the same industry. Federal tax policy should not be picking winners and losers in the marketplace. We applaud Congress and stakeholders for coming together and agreeing to a solution for the good of all agriculture. At USDA, we will provide whatever information is necessary to support Congress in their efforts to have the proposal included in the Omnibus appropriations bill.”
#
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender.