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Auto Dealers to Descend on Capitol Hill for Death Tax Summit

16 May 2000

    ALEXANDRIA, Va. - More than 600 automobile retailers from across the 
United States will descend on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, May 23, joining other 
family-owned business groups in urging Congress to eliminate estate taxes 
during the Death Tax Summit.

    The dealers will be in town to attend the Automotive Congress, the largest
grassroots-lobbying event in the automotive industry, sponsored by the
American International Automobile Dealers Association (AIADA).

    The majority of automobile dealerships are family-owned businesses, some
of which have been in the family for generations. Upon the death of the dealer
principal, surviving heirs must pay death taxes of up to 55 percent of
the estate's total value -- in cash -- to the federal government. To pay these
unreasonably high taxes, heirs often must sell the business, break it up or
liquidate their assets.

    "Death taxes can be a death sentence for family-owned automobile
dealerships," says AIADA Chairman Barbara Vidmar, a second generation multi-
franchise dealer in Pueblo, Colo. Like many auto dealers, Vidmar's ability to
pass her dealership on to her children in the business is threatened by the
estate tax.

    To eliminate this threat, AIADA members will urge their members of
Congress to support H.R. 8, the Death Tax Elimination Act, co-sponsored by
Rep. Jennifer Dunn and Rep. John Tanner (D-TN). The bill would phase-out
estate and gift taxes over a 10-year period, effectively ending the tax in
2010. Dunn will address attendees at the Automotive Congress at 11:00 am on
May 23 at the JW Marriott Hotel.

    "All family-owned dealerships stand to benefit from Rep. Dunn's
legislative efforts to eliminate the burdensome death tax. It is a special
honor to have her speak to our members on the day of the Death Tax Summit,"
said AIADA President Walter E. Huizenga.

    AIADA's Vidmar will participate in a Death Tax Summit press conference in
support of estate tax elimination at 1:30 pm on Tuesday, May 23 on the lawn of
the U.S. Capitol.

    The Republican House leadership has indicated that they will have a stand-
alone vote on death tax repeal sometime this spring. AIADA leaders hope
members of Congress will listen to their constituent concerns and support the
Death Tax Elimination Act.

    "It has been said that only with our government are you given a
certificate at birth, a license upon marriage, and a bill at death. It is time
for Congress to do the right thing and eliminate the estate tax," said AIADA's
Vidmar.

    About AIADA
    AIADA is the trade association representing America's 10,000 international
nameplate automobile dealerships and their more than 360,000 employees. These
retailers sell and service automobiles manufactured both in the U.S. and
abroad, and have a positive economic impact both nationally and in the local
communities they serve.

    Visit AIADA on the Internet at http://www.aiada.org.