By JACK FARIS

It’s a pretty good bet that a young man or woman starting out in business isn’t thinking that his or her last transactions could be with the funeral director and the tax collector.

But for too many family businesses, that is the case. Mike Nobis owns JK Creative Printers in Quincy, Illinois. In 1999, there were three generations of the family working in the business. Late in the year Mike lost both parents in an auto accident. The federal government demanded $300,000 in “death” taxes as that tragedy forced the transfer of the business from one generation to the next.

The death tax is aptly named. Too often it forces the demise of family businesses. It is also unfair: The family business owner must pay taxes when the money is earned and the family pays again upon the death of the owner.

It’s been said the tax is aimed at the very wealthy. If so, the marksmen must have been from “the gang that couldn’t shoot straight!”

Recent figures show that more than half of death-tax revenues come from estates of under $5 million and more than two-thirds from estates below $10 million.

For the business owner, the issue is not whether successful individuals should pay taxes. The issue is how the sweat and tears of one generation can be passed on to the next without destroying the economic foundation of the business. For lawmakers, the goal is finding ways to raise revenues to finance government. Fairness and practicality suggest that the death tax is not the answer.

In the case of JK Creative Printers, the $300,000 the family surrendered to the government in death taxes had been earmarked to expand the business and create new jobs (and thus, new tax revenue) in the community.

The Tax Relief Act of 2001 was supposed to gradually get rid of the death tax once and for all. But because of “procedural hurtles” – Senate shenanigans – the tax will be phased out by 2010 only to reappear in full force in 2011.

This year, the House of Representatives voted to make repeal of the death tax permanent after 2010. The Senate will vote on the companion legislation, the Gramm/Kyl amendment, no later than June 28. It appears the vote will be very close.

Last year 62 senators voted to repeal the tax. If they were for repeal last year, one could assume they would be for it now. Few in Washington are taking that for granted. Senators must not flip on this vote. The stakes are too high.

NFIB and the Family Business Estate Tax Coalition are making it possible for those who want to see the death tax permanently abolished to join forces. They can click on www.YesToGrammKyl.com to communicate with their senators and with local newspaper editors.

The Web site also gives a voice to employees of small, family-owned businesses. It even suggests ways to send photos of the generations who will run the businesses in the future.

The vote could come at any time before June 28. Those with a stake in this debate need to act now. Wells-Fargo, the leader in small-business financial services, is proud to be Title Sponsor of the 2002 National Small Business Summit. Other sponsors include MBNA America, The Mills Corporation, NFIB Member Services Corporation and Fed Ex.

JACK FARIS is president of The National Federation of Independent Business, the nation’s largest small-business advocacy group.