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TAXATION AND FISCAL POLICY - Policy
Statement
With the old adage
that there are only two things that must be done in
life, one is to die and the second is to pay taxes. As our
government runs off of tax dollars, without control of
our government growth our tax base will continue to grow
and broaden.
Thus taking more money out of our pockets where
it belongs and putting it into rules, regulations and
policies that government decides on implementing.
We as citizens of
this nation have to decide what we want from our
government and what we can do for ourselves. With this if you
wish for the government to work for you it is going to
cost you and if you do it yourself you can have your own
say.
We can use our
government resources best by writing our congressmen and
representatives who work for us in Washington D.C.
Also in our court for
wise ways of directing our government is to have an
effective grass roots lobbyist such as we have
representing and fighting for us.
As mentioned by many
of the resolutions brought before this committee, death
taxes are almost the major concern of many delegates
here. They
would be glad to know how their National Master and
National Grange legislative group has fought to get the
death tax repealed and signed by the President of the
United States.
For this we commend them for their efforts.
We feel the need that
National Grange should continue to lobby for tax-exempt
status for many organizations, especially when they
benefit a community based status.
Within a few years
the mean age of our farmers will approach the retirement
age. We
feel that the Congress and government should phase out
the federal estate tax for the family farmer to pass the
farm on down to their family. Also along the
lines of farmers retiring and the family not wanting to
continue to farm, the farmer must sell. The government
then raps them for selling their wares. This is called
capital gains tax.
That my fellow delegates is a slap in the face
for their hard work.
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Personal Income
Tax
1. The National
Grange favors a restoration of the full income
averaging procedure. We especially favor continuing
five and 10-year averaging of personal pension funds for
income tax purposes.
2. The National
Grange favors continuing income indexing.
3. The National
Grange supports reinstating the income tax deductions
for two-wage earner families by removing the
“Marriage Penalty” from the U.S. tax code.
4. The National
Grange supports deducting state sales tax from federal
income tax returns.
5. The National
Grange opposes any taxing of Social Security
income.
6. The National Grange supports
the deduction of 100 percent of charitable contributions
for all taxpayers, both itemizers and
non-itemizers.
7. The National
Grange supports equalizing the mileage rates for
volunteer services and medical transportation with
mileage rates permitted for businesses for tax
purposes.
8. The National
Grange favors income tax credits for those families who
care for their elderly or handicapped relatives who
otherwise would become residents of a nursing home.
9. The National
Grange supports increasing the child care deduction
that is allowed on federal income tax for working
families to a maximum of $4,000 per year.
10. The National
Grange supports legislation that would prohibit any
state from imposing an income tax on the pension income
of any individual who is not a resident of that
state.
11. The National
Grange strongly opposes any changes that would eliminate
or reduce the tax deduction allowed on real estate
mortgages.
However, we do support replacing the deduction
for second home mortgage interest costs with a combined
deduction of second home interest and personal interest
not to exceed $5,000.
12. The National
Grange supports legislation to allow voluntary
contributions of $1.00 to be solicited on all federal
income tax forms to fund our national parks.
13. The National
Grange supports legislation allowing first time
homebuyers to withdraw money from their IRA accounts,
without penalty, to cover their down payment and closing
costs.
14. The National
Grange opposes any reduction in the earned income tax
credit.
15. The National
Grange supports a tax system with the objective of
developing a simpler and fairer federal income tax,
written in precise, plain, and understandable language.
We further support simplifying the language that is used
in the government’s instruction pamphlets for filing
individual income taxes
16. The National
Grange recommends that the year end balance of pre-tax
payroll deductions to pay medical expenses be rolled
into the next year’s account or refunded to the employee
as taxable income.
17. The National
Grange favors legislation, which would provide a 100%
federal income tax credit to law enforcement officers on
purchasing their own bulletproof vests.
18. The National Grange
urges Congress and the IRS to revise codes to eliminate
the reporting of government funded environmental and
conservation mandated cost-share monies as income to the
recipients.
19. The National Grange
urges the Congress to enact legislation to allow a line
item tax deduction, regardless of tax form used, for
Long Term Care Insurance premiums and that the benefits
paid on all Long Term Care Policies shall not be
considered taxable income.
20. The National
Grange supports legislation that allows a total of
$500.00 in income tax credits on their personal property
income tax for political contributions.
21. The National Grange
supports legislation allowing federal annuitants,
members and retirees of the uniform services and
legislative branch employees to pay their share of
health insurance premiums with pre-tax earnings.
22. The National Grange
supports legislation to exempt 75 percent of Social
Security benefits from tax. This would help
people who have other income, or a married couple when
one received SSI.
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Business, Investment, Capital
Gains, And Inheritance
Taxation
1. The National
Grange will seek changes in the depreciation schedules
on capital assets to more accurately reflect the useful
life of an asset. In particular, we support a
depreciation schedule of 15 years for single purpose
farm structures (confinement houses, etc.). Other
real property should have a depreciable usable life of
no more than 25 years.
2. The National
Grange supports legislation to permit farmers and others
whose incomes are impacted by natural disasters and
whose businesses are capital intensive to choose the
method of depreciation that is most suitable to the
uncertainties of their businesses.
3. The National
Grange supports the reinstatement of the Investment
Tax Credit with a $100,000 value eligibility limit.
4. The National
Grange urges Congress to reinstate the preferential
treatment for capital gains income. We support the
abolishment of the capital gains tax. Until then, we
support the concept of indexing the basic value of an
asset, so that only the real gain and not the inflation
value is subject to the capital gains tax.
5. The National
Grange opposes passage of any legislation that will
increase taxation on employee benefits and/or the cash
value buildup of life insurance.
6. The National
Grange strongly opposes the IRS’s policy of holding an
employee liable for unremitted taxes, if the employer
properly withheld those taxes from the employee’s
pay.
7. The National
Grange supports changing federal income tax law to
delete any penalty or interest when any taxpayer pays
the entire amount of federal tax due when filing the
annual tax form on or before April 15th annually.
8. We reaffirm our
longstanding opposition to “tax-loss farming” or the use
of income tax write-offs from farming to reduce the
amount of taxes that are owed on the earnings of
non-farm businesses or professions.
9. The National
Grange supports a 100% federal income tax deduction for
all medical insurance premiums.
10. We oppose any
legislation that denies the installment or
seller-financed method of reporting sales of property or
which permits the imputed interest rate to go above
seven percent.
11. The National
Grange opposes the enactment of any federal tax on
securities transactions.
12. The National
Grange favors passage of the “Family Farmland
Preservation Act” and any similar legislation that would
preserve and protect family farms by amending the
Internal Revenue Code to base estate taxes on family
farms that remain in farming on the basis of farmland
values and not on prospective development values.
13. The National
Grange supports the uniform application of all timber
depletion allowances in the tax code to all timberland
owners regardless of the size of their timberland
holdings.
14. The National
Grange supports legislation allowing farmers to invest
the gain from the sale of real and personal property
into tax-deferred accounts, such as IRAs.
15. The National
Grange opposes any legislation that allows any employer
to borrow from the employee’s pension fund.
16. The National
Grange supports legislation that would abolish the
federal estate tax, especially for small business and
agriculture.
17. The National
Grange supports the health insurance deduction for sole
proprietorships, partnerships and subchapter “S”
corporations be increased to 100 percent.
18. The National Grange
recognizes that most rural people do not have equal
access to the benefits of the $500,000 Personal
Residence Capital Gains Tax exclusion. Therefore, the
National Grange urges all members of Congress to enact
legislation to change the Internal Revenue Code to
exclude capital gains up to $500,000 from sale of
agricultural lands.
19. The National Grange
supports educating both the politicians and the public
on the importance of raising inheritance tax exemptions
for farms and small businesses.
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Sales and Excise
Taxes
1. The National
Grange opposes increasing the federal gasoline tax for
purposes other than the Highway Trust Fund. Current gasoline
tax revenues that are levied for the purpose of reducing
the national debt should be placed in a dedicated fund
and used for that purpose only.
2. The National
Grange urges Congress to exempt gasoline and diesel fuel
that is used for farming purposes from the federal motor
fuels excise tax.
3. The National
Grange opposes the enactment of any national sales
tax.
4. The National
Grange opposes legislation that would require mail order
houses or internet retailers to collect state sales
taxes on mail order or internet purchases. We further
oppose a federal sales or use tax being imposed on mail
order or internet sales.
5. The National
Grange opposes any form of value-added tax.
6. The National
Grange opposes any additional taxation of tobacco
products.
7. The National Grange
supports federal legislation to remove the federal motor
fuel tax from fuel used to operate farm
trucks.
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Taxes -
General
1. We oppose
legislation, which would alter the present tax treatment
of agricultural cooperatives.
2. The National
Grange opposes any tax being imposed on water that is
drawn from private wells, lakes, and irrigation ponds.
We encourage Congress to keep all restrictions on
private wells, lakes, and irrigation ponds at a
minimum.
3. The National
Grange urges Congress to maintain tax policies that
will preserve the ability of this nation to find and
produce domestic oil and gas resources. We oppose any
increase in the oil import fee or the domestic crude oil
fee.
4. We oppose any
federal legislation that would limit the individual
state’s right to levy severance taxes on minerals and
coal.
5. The National
Grange seeks permanent tax exemption for income that is
raised by non-profit organizations such as the
Grange.
Until then, we oppose IRS guidelines that
classify corporate sponsorships as advertising revenue,
and thus, unrelated business income for non-profit
organizations.
We further support legislation to raise the
minimum gross income filing requirements for non-profit
organizations.
6. The National
Grange supports federal legislation requiring that tax
laws that are to be effective for that calendar year be
enacted no later than July 1st and that any tax laws
that are to be enacted after that date must be effective
on January 1st of the following year or at such later
date as is specified by such law.
7. We support a
further strengthening of the “Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights”
which would:
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Give the taxpayer
the right to record all interviews with IRS people and
to set a reasonable time and place for same.
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Limit the IRS’s
investigations to just those laws they administer
under the direction of Congress.
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Provide a course of
action in which the victim could defend himself and
recover his costs and attorney fees should the IRS
fail to prove its case.
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Put the burden of
proof on the IRS - not the taxpayer - under due
process of law.
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Prohibit the IRS
from sending out bills that are in excess of taxes
that are owed, except that interest and penalties may
be included.
8. The National
Grange opposes the collection of delinquent income tax
on a commission basis.
9. The National
Grange opposes all efforts to further limit the rights
of local governments to use tax-exempt municipal
financing.
10. The National
Grange supports requiring a two-thirds vote of each
house of Congress to increase taxes.
11. The National
Grange supports legislation that will close the tax
loopholes that allow foreign companies doing business in
the United States to avoid paying United States’ income
tax. We further demand that foreign investors pay U. S.
federal taxes on their investments on the same basis as
U. S. citizens.
12. The National
Grange recommends that any proposal to further tax
annuities in any form be flatly rejected.
13. The National
Grange opposes all retroactive tax increases.
14. The National
Grange supports Congress in their review of the IRS’s
practices and effect corrections/replacement of the IRS
system.
There should be future Congressional audits on a
four-year or more often basis.
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Government
Spending
1. The National
Grange supports a constitutional amendment requiring a
balanced budget as a permanent solution to our deficit
problems. Granges at all levels will support and promote
national referendums with other groups or organizations
of similar philosophies regarding balanced budgets and
reduction of the national deficit.
2. The National
Grange supports legislation that will require future
program mandates to be funded by the level of government
that is issuing such mandate.
3. The National
Grange strongly urges the President and Congress to
apply any reductions in the defense appropriations to
the principle of our national deficit. However, we
believe that the federal budget should keep a high
priority on our military, not calling for excessive
defense cuts, which could place our nation at risk to
outside aggression.
4. We support efforts
at all levels of government to reduce costs and
excessive paperwork, to review regulations, and to
generally reduce any undue influence of government on
the private sector.
5. The National
Grange supports requiring a two-third vote in the House
of Representatives to increase the statutory limit on
the public debt.
6. The National
Grange recommends that if federal employees’ salaries,
retirement, and personal benefits are reduced as a
federal budget reduction, it shall include, but not be
limited to the President, Vice President, Members of
Congress, the Cabinet, and federal judges.
7. The National
Grange urges our federal government to spend less on
foreign aid and apply those funds toward reduction of
the federal deficit. We support a
reduction in foreign aid comparable to the same
percentage reduction as in domestic entitlements.
8. The National
Grange believes that all funds left in any federal
program budget at the end of each fiscal year or any
treasury surplus should be applied to reducing the
national debt, provided that such amounts shall not
automatically be removed from the next year’s program
budget.
9. The National
Grange favors the review of all tax supported federal
incentive programs for possible reduction or
elimination.
10. The National
Grange opposes the utilization of any funds from the
Social Security Trust Fund to achieve a balanced federal
budget or for any purpose other than Social Security
benefits.
11. The National
Grange supports legislation which calls for the
President and our federal legislators to lose their
daily pay and per diem for each day the federal budget,
for the next fiscal year, is not passed and they cannot
be reimbursed for any portion of their lost pay. Federal
employees and federal agencies should continue to be
paid and perform full services during budget
delays.
12. The National
Grange believes that personal legal fees of federally
elected officials should no longer be paid from tax
revenue but by the individual involved.
13. The National Grange
encourages all levels of government to downsize or
eliminate jobs where possible.
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Banking and Consumer
Credit
1. The Grange
supports legislation to enable the family farmer or the
family farm cooperative to borrow money at low interest
rates.
2. We oppose any
actions that would tend to restrict or eliminate money
market funds.
3. The National
Grange opposes allowing banks to purchase insurance
companies and to sell securities. We further
oppose any bank entering the field of commerce, i.e. the
“basket approach to banking”. We oppose
legislation that would permit bank holding companies
from acting as insurance agents or brokers.
4. The National
Grange supports strong independent banks and opposes
further concentration of banking and financial powers in
interstate and nationwide firms.
5. The National
Grange supports federal regulations to insure the
security of loans that are made by savings and loan
institutions. We further support legislation to ensure
the recovery of bad debts and penalties and/or
prosecution of guilty parties. Membership fees should be
increased for all savings and loan institutions in
order to insure that all monies that are on deposit be
properly insured.
6. The National
Grange opposes the movement by the banking industry to
deny the return of canceled checks to bank clients. We further seek
passage of legislation to eliminate unreasonable delays
in the availability of the funds from a deposited
check.
7. The National
Grange supports legislation requiring Credit Card
companies to discontinue the use of “preapproved” in
their solicitations. Credit card
companies should require an application showing proof of
financial responsibility.
8. The National
Grange opposes the merger of the National Credit Union
Administration (NCUA) with any other government
financial insurance fund. We support We support the
current form of regulating credit unions as
cooperatives.
We also oppose any change in regulatory
procedures or the loss of federal tax-free status for
member-owned credit unions. We further oppose imposing
taxes on credit unions.
9. The National
Grange opposes extending the FDIC’s or FSLIC’s
guarantees beyond the $100,000 maximum per institution
per depositor.
We further support legislation requiring banks to
pay premiums on accounts of foreign depositors to pay
for their FDIC insurance protection.
10. The National
Grange supports banking regulations that will require
banks to honor all government checks that are presented
to them for payment. Reasonable proof of identity can be
required, but the bank should not be allowed to require,
or even ask if, the person has an account in that or any
other bank.
11. The National
Grange supports regulations to assure that all real
estate loans, when renewed or refinanced, are based on
current appraisals.
12. The National
Grange supports legislation to require banks and other
lenders to pay the market rate of interest on escrow
account accumulation.
13. The National
Grange recommends that the Resolution Trust Corporation
be required to assist account holders with information
and records on loans to enable them to track their loan
balances and payments through a series of owners of the
accounts.
14. The National
Grange urges state and federal banking regulators to
better monitor fees charged by banks, reduce and
eliminate those that are unfair, and provide customers
with protection against aggressive banking business
practices.
15. The National
Grange opposes repeal of the “Truth in Savings
Act.”
16. The National
Grange will support legislation that requires banks to
post any and all service charges for ATM use on the
video screen at the time of use, allowing the customer
to cancel the transaction if they so choose at no
charge.
17. The National
Grange supports legislation that would require that any
banks that are allowed to write and sell insurance must
be subject to all applicable state insurance resolutions
and laws as administered by State Insurance
Commissions.
18. The National
Grange supports legislation to require that any banks
that are allowed to offer or underwrite securities must
be subject to regulation by the US Securities and
Exchange Commission.
19. The National
Grange supports congressional oversight to investigate
the original intent and the continuing necessity of the
Export-Import Bank.
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Monetary Policy
1. The National
Grange opposes any congressional management or control
over the Federal Reserve Board. We continue to
support the Federal Reserve Board’s independence.
2. The National
Grange supports reducing the minimum denomination of
Treasury Bills and Notes.
3. The National
Grange opposes the replacement of the one-dollar bill
with a coin.
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Insurance
1. The National
Grange supports the efforts of the National Association
of Mutual Insurance Companies in changing the procedure
for strengthening and improving the guarantee fund.
2. The National
Grange opposes making any change in or repealing the
McCarran-Ferguson Act.
3. The National
Grange opposes efforts to put the insurance industry
under federal regulation.
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