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NADA Supports Complete Repeal of the Death Tax

9 June 2000

    WASHINGTON - The National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) is urging 
the House of Representatives to protect family owned businesses by voting to 
repeal the unfair "death tax." The House is expected to vote on the bill on 
Friday.

    H.R. 8, sponsored by Rep. Jennifer Dunn (R-Wash.) and Rep. John S. Tanner
(R-Tenn.), calls for the complete elimination of the death tax by 2010. Along
with hundreds of other proponents and cosponsors of the bill, NADA believes
the death tax is the single greatest impediment to preserving the viability of
family owned and operated businesses.

    "There is something very wrong with our system when a small business owner
spends a lifetime building a business, paying taxes, providing jobs and
serving the community only to have the government step in and take over half
of everything upon the owner's death," said Harold B. Wells, a new-car dealer
from Whiteville, N.C. and NADA Chairman of the Board. "Even the most
sophisticated estate plan and life insurance cannot prevent the effects of the
death tax, which often leaves families with no choice but to sell their
businesses or incur substantial debt to pay the tax."

    The National Automobile Dealers Association represents more than 19,500
franchised new-car and -truck dealers holding nearly 40,000 separate
franchises, domestic and import. NADA provides its members counsel on legal
and regulatory matters, represents dealers on Capitol Hill, develops data on
the auto industry and operates training programs to improve dealership
business operations.