ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA (June 3, 2002) – The Printing Industries of America (PIA), a trade association that represents over 13,000 printers in the manufacturing sector, is strongly urging Congress to vote for permanent repeal of the Death Tax. The tax bill that passed the House and Senate last year repealed the death tax by phasing it out over ten years and finally repealing it in 2010. Unfortunately due to the rules of the Senate, a sunset provision was included that reinstates the death tax in 2011. The House recently passed permanency legislation and Majority Leader Daschle has agreed to allow a vote on death tax permanency by June 28th in the Senate. Senators Phil Gramm of Texas and Jon Kyl of Arizona will sponsor the permanency amendment. "The current situation is a terrible predicament for small businesses as the uncertainty of the death tax repeal makes it impossible to discontinue expensive estate planning. Therefore, money that could be used to hire more workers or invest in the company is still being used for estate tax planning," Felicia Cheek, Government Affairs Manager for PIA, explained. "Our members would much rather use this money to invest in their company or hire more workers, but that is impossible until the tax is permanently repealed." PIA is advocating only one legislative option, permanent repeal. Additional reforms such as carve outs and increased exemptions, would likely not cover many businesses in the printing industry. The average cost of a new printing press is between $1-2 million dollars. However, investing in plant and equipment does not mean liquidity. Although there may be money invested in capital assets, without selling there is often not enough cash in the bank to pay a 55% tax on those assets. "We are not trying to circumvent paying taxes owed to the government. Taxes should be paid when a transaction is made and assets change hands, not because someone has died thus inhibiting the ability of family members to carry on a family business," said Cheek. "Most Americans agree this is an unfair tax whether or not they will ever be subject to it. The bottom line is that death should not be a taxable event and with the Senate’s help, hopefully it won’t be for much longer."