FMI's retail membership is composed of large multi-store chains, small regional firms and independent supermarkets. Its international membership includes 200 members from 60 countries. What makes us unique is that we represent family-owned businesses throughout the United States. The coalition will give this issue a much higher profile through a national television and print advertising initiative and a series of local town meetings designed to inform the American people. Effect of the Estate Tax when a Supermarket Owner Dies Supermarket succession, the passing of years of hard work on to the next generation is a top concern of family-owned supermarket retailers and wholesalers.
Succession planning is long and difficult.
Owners are forced to answer difficult questions about the future of a company they have worked their entire lives to create and grow. The transfer of ownership and the family dynamics are central questions in the decision to plan for the future of the business. When the owner of a supermarket dies, the individual's estate is subject to federal and state death taxes. The tax not only covers the life savings of the one who passed away, abut also the home, land, pensions, life insurance, stocks and bonds, annuities, IRAs, 401K plans and the business assets and anything else that has any economic value. The deceased has already paid income tax on that money.