Prairie State Wire

NFIB Illinois has submitted written testimony to the Illinois House Revenue & Finance Committee, advocating for death-tax relief aimed at family-owned businesses. The organization emphasizes the impact of the state's estate tax on these enterprises.

Currently, Illinois is among twelve states that impose an estate tax. It is noted that only five states have a lower threshold for applying this tax on decedents' property than Illinois. In its testimony, NFIB highlights: "Illinois’ current estate-tax exemption is less than one-third of the federal exemption of $13.99 million and hasn’t been updated for over a decade despite inflation and climbing asset valuations."

The letter addressed to the committee underscores the challenges faced by small, family-owned businesses due to this low exemption level. NFIB points out that these businesses often struggle with liquidity issues when required to pay estate taxes, sometimes leading them to take costly loans or liquidate assets.

Additionally, NFIB stresses that beyond financial strains, "the complexity of the tax forms and paperwork is itself an onerous burden for family members grieving the death of a loved one." This sentiment is supported by survey results indicating that 81% of NFIB's small-business respondents favored increasing the state’s estate-tax exemption in 2024.

In its conclusion, NFIB calls on the Illinois General Assembly to align the state's estate-tax exemption with federal standards to protect local family-owned businesses.