Proposed change in farm estate tax has broad support
(The Center Square) – Legislation to change the state’s death tax credit could help families hold on to their farms as land values rise. Illinois Farm Bureau Associate Director of State Legislation Mark Raney said farmers currently pay the estate tax on everything more than $4 million in value, which is easily exceeded by the average Illinois grain farm with 1,500 acres. “And that doesn't include the value of any of your equipment, your trucks, the value of any livestock you may have harvested, corn or soy, doesn't include barns, doesn't include your house,” Raney told The Center Square. Raney said the Family Farm Preservation Act changes the $4 million threshold and would be huge for agriculture in Illinois. “We want that number to be $6 million, however, the first 6 million is tax-free. So if your estate is $6.5 million, you are taxed on $500,000 and then we tie that $6 million to inflation,” Raney said. Raney said the bill would alleviate the discrepancy between high land values and income. State Rep. Sharon Chung, D-Bloomington, filed House Bill 4736 last March, after her previous version of the Family Farm Preservation Act failed to advance in 2025. Gov. J.B. Pritzker
