I started a family-owned retail business with my father and have been growing it for 13 years. I get it. The farm example is trotted out all the time because

I started a family-owned retail business with my father and have been growing it for 13 years. I get it. The farm example is trotted out all the time because it is an emotional example. But it isn't really a meaningful one. The 2016 estimates from the USDA states that 98.3% of family farms would not need to file a estate-tax return at all. Of the 1.7% that do need to file a return, the vast majority of those would owe no taxes. Only 0.4% of family farms will owe any estate tax for 2016. It only affects a very small percentage of family farms. And yet it is the go-to example of how the estate tax isn't fair.