The unintended consequences of the passage of Section 199A with last year’s tax reform legislation is worrisome to many grain elevators in South Dakota. Jerry Cope with Dakota Mill and Grain’s marketing division in Rapid City says Section 199A gives a tax break to farmers who sell to cooperatives over private elevators and that’s creating a number of problems for agriculture.
He says competition needs to be restored because the current Section 199A not only doesn’t allow for that, it also creates other difficulties for agriculture.
Cope says Dakota Mill and Grain is a member of the National Grain and Feed Association which has been working for a resolution on this issue. He’s hoping Congress will address the problem and not let it languish or be forgotten.
Both NGFA and the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives have been working with Congress to find a solution that would involve going back to the old Section 199 tax exemption in place prior to passage of the tax reform bill.
