Representative Greg Steube (R-FL) has introduced a bill protecting small businesses from undue tax burdens through gift and estate taxes.
Specifically, Rep. Steube's Family Business Legacy Act updates a 2015 bill known as the Protecting Americans From Tax Hikes Act (PATH). The PATH Act itself was a response to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) introducing a 2010 policy attempting to tax small businesses on donations to 501(c)(4) organizations like churches and charities.
Rep. Steube's Family Business Legacy Act builds upon the PATH Act by introducing additional estate tax deductions for contributions to 501(c)(4) organizations. Thus, the IRS can no longer work around the PATH Act through estate taxes.
"Small and family-owned businesses do more than just create jobs. Their support to charitable organizations and causes represents the best of the American spirit," the Florida Congressman said in his press release, adding, "Restoring parity between state and federal tax laws not only makes good business sense but also reaffirms the critical role that small and family-owned enterprises play in our society. My bill will guarantee contributions to 501(c)(4), (c)(5), and (c)(6) organizations are no longer subjected to gift taxes."
Cutting taxes has been a recent priority of Florida Republicans in Congress and within the state, as Representatives Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) and Mario Diaz Balart (R-FL) expressed support for extending President Donald Trump's 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in a March interview with The Floridian.
At the end of March, Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) urged the Florida House of Representatives to support lowering state property taxes in opposition to Speaker Danny Perez's plan to lower sales tax.
Then, at the beginning of April, Representative Brian Mast (R-FL) introduced the No Tax on Military Bonuses Act, which, as its name suggests, makes military pay bonuses immune from taxation.
Representative Vern Buchanan (R-FL) most recently introduced the Middle-Class Mortgage Insurance Premium Act and the Fair Accounting for Condominiums Act, which deals with federal property taxes.
