• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association

Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association

To Honor and Protect the Ranching Way of Life

  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • Why Join
    • Leadership
    • Staff
    • Partners
    • FAQs
    • Newsroom
    • Sponsorships
    • Employment
  • What We Do
    • Theft and Law
    • Issues and Policy
    • Education
    • Students and Young Professionals
    • The Cattleman Magazine
    • Disaster Relief Fund
    • Cattle Raisers Insurance
    • Cattle Raisers Trading Co
  • Events
    • Cattle Raisers Convention
    • Policy Conference
    • Summer Meeting
    • Ranch Gatherings
    • Ranching 101
  • Join
  • Member Center
  • TSCRA Store
  • Show Search
Hide Search

Texas rancher to Congress on death tax: Get rid of it

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association today released the fourth and final video in its month-long media campaign to promote comprehensive tax reform. As the end of the campaign draws to a close, the videos featuring beef producers have already been viewed a combined 260,000 times and have reached more than 450,000 people on Facebook.
NCBA’s fourth video features rancher Pete Bonds, who runs the Bonds Ranch operation headquartered in Saginaw, Texas. Bonds talks about the steep costs associated with planning for the death tax, and urges Congress to just get rid of it. While most people associate the death tax with jet-setting billionaires, Bonds explains that the land-rich, cash-poor business model that ranchers depend on makes the death tax especially harmful to family-owned operations.
“Most ranchers, 90-plus percent of their assets is land. That land is not very liquid. And if at my death, if we had not done anything, the kids would have had to come up with several million dollars to pay the death tax. We don’t have that amount of money just sitting around.”

To effectively manage his tax burden, Bonds has been forced to sink hundreds of thousands of dollars into estate and tax planning – money that could have been used to expand his business, hire new employees, or invest in the local community.
“You know, that’s a waste. It’s costing us tens of thousands of dollars a year to do this… We spent several hundred thousand dollars getting a limited liability partnership set up. And went through not only appraisals but the appraisals of the appraisals. We spent about as much money getting this stuff into the kid’s names, as my dad paid for this damn ranch.”
NCBA’s tax reform campaign is centered around a new website, CattlemenForTaxReform.com, and will run through September. The campaign will also connect grassroots ranchers and producers with their elected officials on Capitol Hill as tax-reform legislation is considered this autumn.
Source: beefusa.org

Written by:
kristin
Published on:
September 27, 2017

Categories: General

Recent Posts

TSCRA commends USDA’s continued border closure to combat spread of New World screwworm

July 10, 2025

FORT WORTH, Texas (July 9, 2025)— Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association President Carl …

Continue Reading about TSCRA commends USDA’s continued border closure to combat spread of New World screwworm

Crime watch: Black Angus bull missing in Coleman County

July 9, 2025

Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association Special Ranger HD Brittain, District 19 in West …

Continue Reading about Crime watch: Black Angus bull missing in Coleman County

Texas Ranch Receives Regional Environmental Stewardship Award

July 9, 2025

SAN DIEGO (July 8, 2025) – McFaddin Ranch in Victoria, Texas, was recognized today by the National …

Continue Reading about Texas Ranch Receives Regional Environmental Stewardship Award

Footer

Who We Are

Why Join
Leadership
Staff
Partners
FAQs
Newsroom
Sponsorships
Employment

What We Do

Theft and Law
Issues and Policy
Education
Students and Young Professionals
The Cattleman Magazine
Cattle Raisers Insurance
Cattle Raisers Trading Co.
Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association

Information

Cattle Raisers Blog
News Releases
Bereavements
Events
Sponsorships & Advertisement
Tip Hotline
Get Involved
Links

Membership

Membership Center
Membership Center Instructions
Join
Renew
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

PO BOX 101988
FORT WORTH, TX 76185

1-800-242-7820

© 2023 Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association; All Rights Reserved.

COPYRIGHT | PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS OF USE