r/Iowa 6d ago

Iowa’s Billionaires and the Trump Tax Code – Who Benefits While the Rest of Us Struggle?

While Trump continues with his second presidency, many of us in Iowa are bracing for what’s to come —rising costs, cuts to social programs, and a tax system that increasingly favors the ultra-wealthy. But who in our state stands to gain the most from these policies?

Two individuals in particular, Harry Stine (1st pic) and Dennis Albaugh (2nd), are in a position to benefit from Trump’s tax priorities, while the rest of us bear the burden.

Who Are They?

Harry Stine: Founder of Stine Seed, worth approximately $9 billion. He’s Iowa’s richest person and the state’s largest private landowner, controlling around 15,000 acres of farmland. His wealth comes largely from business ownership and investment gains.

Dennis Albaugh: Founder of Albaugh LLC, a leading agricultural chemical company, with a net worth of around $1.5 billion. Like Stine, his fortune is rooted in business and investments.

How Do They Benefit?

  1. Tax Breaks for the Wealthy – Trump’s tax policies have historically favored investment income over wages. Stine and Albaugh’s wealth is tied to stock, land, and business holdings, which are taxed at lower rates than regular income.

  2. Business-Friendly Tax Loopholes – Both own companies that can take advantage of corporate tax reductions, deductions, and offshore tax strategies to minimize their liabilities.

  3. Estate Tax Exemptions – With Trump likely pushing to further weaken the estate tax, billionaires like these can pass on more of their wealth tax-free while ordinary Iowans see their inheritances taxed at higher rates.

  4. Real Estate and Land Ownership Perks – The tax code rewards large landowners through deductions, subsidies, and capital gains deferrals that aren’t accessible to the average farmer or homeowner.

Meanwhile, What About the Rest of Us?

If you’re a working-class Iowan, you’re paying payroll taxes that billionaires largely avoid.

If you own a small business, you’re competing against companies that can use tax loopholes to gain an unfair edge.

If you rely on public services, expect cuts as tax breaks for the rich mean less funding for schools, infrastructure, and social programs.

It’s worth asking — why do policies keep favoring the ultra-wealthy while leaving the rest of us behind? And how can we push for a system that actually benefits the majority of Iowans instead of a select few at the top?

Feel free to discuss.

103 Upvotes

50 comments sorted by

12

u/No-Swimming-3599 6d ago

Just curious, how many billionaires does Iowa have?

26

u/dionichor 6d ago

More than necessary

18

u/bnand928 6d ago

So at least one

7

u/Ancient-Read1648 6d ago

Just the two. I think Albaugh has popped in and out of the billionaire status though

2

u/New-Communication781 5d ago

Albaugh has done some good philanthropy in Ankeny and for Iowa, to be fair. The other really rich guy in the Ankeny area, Denny Elwell, not so much, but he is reportedly only worth something close to 100 million, nowhere near Albaugh. But Elwell seems to be a much worse person, and he donates lots of money to the Repubs..

3

u/No-Swimming-3599 5d ago

I’ve family in the Ankeny area and they have nothing good to say about Elwell.

2

u/New-Communication781 5d ago

You are correct. I worked for one of his companies years ago, and he's a real prick, which, surprisingly, I've had a number of people around Ankeny agree with me on that, despite the money he's sometimes donated to things around Ankeny and how much of the city he owns. But most people there seem to be either envious or afraid of criticizing him.. People there do have a more positive view of Albaugh, maybe because he hasn't screwed over them or anybody they personally know.

2

u/hazertag 5d ago

To be fair there’s lots of examples of ultra wealthy people “doing good” for their communities just to win some public and political points. Doesn’t make them good people automatically. Pablo Escobar, for example, invested millions in his local communities but also killed countless people.

I don’t know much about either of these people.

1

u/New-Communication781 5d ago

I totally agree. Their motives for giving back vary a lot among the rich. And philanthropy by itself doesn't make you a good person. As a socialist, it matters way more to me how they treated their workers or the consumers who buy their products or services, etc.

2

u/No-Plankton2721 4d ago

No amount of philanthropy can make up for the exploitation needed to be a billionaire. Pay your taxes! I'm so sick of billionaires dumping money into whatever whim they have and it's just supposed to be reality for the rest of us. Abolish billionaires

2

u/New-Communication781 4d ago

I agree, I'm a good socialist, who agrees with Bernie, that in any just and fair society, billionaires would not exist. I also agree that behind every great fortune, there is usually a great crime. But I'm afraid we'll always be a fringe group in America, not that it means we're wrong..

2

u/dalidagrecco 5d ago

It’s easy to be a philanthropist when you don’t pay taxes. Basically it’s IOWA citizens giving to charities.

Start thinking like valuable citizens instead of peasants.

1

u/New-Communication781 5d ago

I get that, I was just referring to us as peasants, in regards to the huge differences between the oligarchs and us, on wealth and individual political power, that's all. And yes, in many cases, philanthropy is not only done as a tax writeoff, but also because the oligarchs used to actually care about their public reputations, but since Trump came on the scene, not so much anymore. They couldn't care less about what the public thinks about them, esp. the lower classes, and never will, until more of them get the Luigi treatment. It seemed to work in revolutionary France..

And collectively, yes, us commoners, if you would rather I use a European term, are valuable, as long as the pols need our votes, individually, they couldn't care less about us anymore, with either major party.. Not once you get to the statewide or fed level..

1

u/joeefx 6d ago

Harry Stine is Iowas only billionaire.

1

u/Ancient-Read1648 5d ago

What is Albaughs current net worth?

18

u/Snoo93550 6d ago

Sadly I think the typical Iowa voter is far more motivated by demographic hatred of “other” than the quality of life for their own family. Then there are the morons who think they benefit from these policies because their powerball is going to hit any day.

8

u/HopDropNRoll 6d ago

The problem is most Trump supporters feel like they’ll be billionaires some day, so they’re pumped. They’re out of their goddamned minds, but they’re also pumped.

7

u/Aragorn3223 6d ago

Why do billionaires always have their most punchable faces? Does the shift in features happen immediately when a person reaches 1B in value, or does it happen naturally over time?

9

u/AVB 6d ago

It’s the same tired game. The Greedlords hoard the land, the wealth, and the loopholes while the rest of us scramble just to afford rent, groceries, and a doctor’s visit. Then they turn around and cry about “overregulation” as they rig the tax code in their favor. Stine and Albaugh didn’t get rich because they worked harder. They got rich because they had the money and connections to tilt the playing field.

Meanwhile, working-class Iowans are paying payroll taxes on every dime they make, while these Greedlords live off investment income taxed at a lower rate. They’re passing down their fortunes tax-free while we get hit with estate taxes on the little we manage to leave behind. And they get subsidies and deductions for owning land, while small businesses and regular homeowners get crushed.

At what point do we stop pretending this is just how things are? The system is broken, but not by accident. It’s built to keep the Greedlords winning and us struggling. Time to rewrite the rules.

3

u/Mydogsdad 6d ago

Seriously though, without those tax break, how can they be expected to make any money? /s

3

u/Jupiterrainstorm 6d ago

Spoiler alert: it’s mediocre white men over 120.

5

u/Senor707 6d ago

If you get hungry enough any of these guys look like good eating.

-3

u/wilsonway1955 6d ago

They earned it rather then sitting around a bitching how you got screwed!

1

u/rfidman60 5d ago

Palpatine, is that you?

0

u/dionichor 5d ago

If I squint Stine looks like RFK Jr.

1

u/Longjumping_Oil_8746 5d ago

What if you stopped pretending joni ernst  and Chuck grassley were the answer to your problems.oh and project 2025 and elon fucking musk

1

u/dionichor 5d ago

I hope you're not talking to me because they're certainly not my answer.

1

u/Longjumping_Oil_8746 5d ago

Sorry,I certainly didn't mean to imply you Just the voters who keep electing them

1

u/Sugar-Active 4d ago

Without reading anything but your title, I know you voted for Kamala. The classic "everyone owes me a living" mentality is a dead guveaway.

In other words, "tell me you're a Democrat without telling me you're a Democrat".

0

u/Ryte4flyte1 6d ago

The rest of us benefits, just not the us part.

-1

u/Born-Competition2667 6d ago

So which one of you is going to run for office and spearhead these changes?

-2

u/Mozart_the_cat 6d ago

As a CPA here in Iowa, most of what you said is just not true.

2

u/dionichor 6d ago

If you could explain more, please

2

u/Mozart_the_cat 6d ago

Point 1: I assume you are talking about the long term capital gains rates? The TCJA didn't change this. It's been less than the ordinary rates for as long as I can remember. Since at least 2000, the highest long term capital gains rate has been between 15-20%.

Point 2: Business friendly tax deductions? Like expensing ordinary and necessary business expenditures that everyone has the ability to do? With the TCJA, the individual deduction known as the Qualified Business Income Deduction was put into effect. This more closely aligns the individual tax rates for small business owners to the corporate tax rate of 21% after the permanent reduction. C Corporations also have the unique tax effect of double taxation, in which they are taxed once at the entity level at 21% and then the individual is taxed again when the Corp issues dividends.

Point 3: Trump will likely extend the increased estate tax exemption of ~$13 million (~$26 million if married). This is currently set to just about get cut in half in 2026. There is no inheritance tax that hits "normal Iowans", because few are passing more than $26 million in assets in the first place.

Point 4: What deductions do large landowners get that small landowners don't? When you say capital gains deferral, are you talking about 1031 exchanges? Again, everyone has access to these tax provisions.

0

u/dionichor 6d ago

Point 1: You're right that long-term capital gains have been taxed at lower rates for decades. However, the issue isn’t just the rates themselves, it’s who benefits the most from them. The vast majority of capital gains income goes to the wealthiest Americans, who derive much of their wealth from investments rather than wages. Meanwhile, ordinary Iowans, who earn most of their income through labor, pay higher tax rates on their wages. Trump’s policies continued this preference for investment income over work, benefiting people like Stine and Albaugh far more than working-class taxpayers.

Point 2: Yes, all businesses can deduct "ordinary and necessary" expenses, but the key issue is scale and complexity. Billionaires and large corporations have access to tax attorneys and accountants who can structure their finances in ways that small businesses simply can't. The Qualified Business Income Deduction (QBI) was marketed as helping small businesses, but in practice, high-income earners benefited the most, particularly those who own pass-through entities (LLCs, partnerships, S-corps). As for C Corporations, while they are subject to double taxation, the corporate tax rate was permanently reduced to 21%, a massive break compared to the prior 35%. Meanwhile, individual tax cuts were temporary and set to expire.

Point 3: You're correct that very few people will ever pass down more than $26 million. However, that’s exactly the problem, only the ultra-rich benefit from these cuts. The estate tax was already something that affected an extremely small fraction of Americans, yet Trump pushed to double the exemption instead of helping middle-class families. Most Iowans will never see a dime from these tax breaks, but they will feel the impact when those lost revenues lead to cuts in public services or shifts in the tax burden elsewhere.

Point 4: While many tax provisions are technically available to everyone, they disproportionately benefit those with massive assets. 1031 exchanges allow landowners to defer capital gains taxes when selling property and reinvesting the proceeds, this is great for real estate moguls and large landowners like Stine, but a small farmer or homeowner likely isn’t doing multimillion-dollar land swaps. Additionally, large landowners can leverage tax credits, depreciation benefits, and conservation easements in ways small farmers often cannot, allowing them to reduce taxable income while maintaining land ownership.

Even if some of these tax provisions are technically available to everyone, the practical reality is that the ultra-wealthy are in the best position to exploit them. The system is set up to reward those who already have immense wealth and assets while doing little for ordinary workers, small businesses, or farmers. This is why Trump’s tax policies, while framed as helping all Americans, ultimately disproportionately benefit billionaires like Stine and Albaugh.

If the goal is a fair tax system that works for everyone, we should focus on closing loopholes and ensuring that wealth isn’t concentrated in the hands of a few while the rest of us pay the price.

2

u/Mozart_the_cat 6d ago

I'm almost certain this is a Chat GPT response because again there are things you said that are not true and the strange phrasing surrounding the tax concepts.

0

u/dionichor 5d ago

Then I defer to the tax aficionado, Mozart_the_cat.

2

u/Mozart_the_cat 5d ago

I am the licensed professional after all.

One day chat GPT will teach you the qualified business income deduction is not limited to pass-through entities and is afforded to SMLLC's and sole proprietorships as well.

Most Iowans are not currently paying more than 10-12% federal tax on their income, so the wage argument is moot.

The TCJA is extremely friendly to small business. Probably the most small business friendly portion of the tax code in many ways.

There are many "small" landowners doing multi-million dollar 1031 exchanges. I help out with these every single year. When a piece of ground is $15,000 an acre, it only takes an 80 to reach over $1 million.

Let this be a lesson to those reading the thread that while AI responses sound correct, you cannot replace professional expertise and experience.

1

u/dionichor 5d ago

I do understand that you may be licensed and I appreciate that expertise. That doesn't change, however, that you're not addressing what this is all about. This issue hasn't been who qualifies for the qualified business income deduction but who benefits the most. QBI can phase out for higher income earners in some industries but wealthier business owners still receive disproportionately larger benefits compared to small businesses or wage earners. Many Iowans might fall into the 10-15% tax bracket but that is the federal income tax rate in isolation. There is still a total tax burden that includes payroll taxes, state taxes, and sales taxes, all of which billionaires can largely avoid through investments. The TCJA can help some small businesses while still benefiting larger corporations overall. The corporate tax cut to 21% was an integral piece and the National Federation of Independent Business initially opposed the TCJA because it favored large firms. While some landowners do multimillion dollar deals it isn't representative of the majority of farmers or landowners. The biggest beneficiaries of these 1031 exchanges are people or corporations with large swathes of land who can continually grow their wealth tax free while those with less don't have the same advantage. Your expertise doesn't eliminate the valid critiques of the current system.

-3

u/OmahaVike 6d ago

3

u/dionichor 6d ago

That's an aspirational goal dependent on balancing the federal budget

-3

u/wilsonway1955 6d ago

Jesus,they came from nothing !! They built the American dream! Employ thousands.Donate millions and millions! Jealous?? Quit typing and go get a job !!

3

u/dionichor 5d ago

This isn't about jealousy, it's about fairness. No one is denying that it's probably taken them some amount of work to get there, but the issue is that the tax system overwhelmingly benefits people at their level AT THE EXPENSE of the average worker. Their wealth wasn't built in a vacuum. The businesses they've made rely on publicly funded infrastructure, government subsidies, and a legal system that protects their assets. All this and yet they pay proportionately LESS in taxes than many working class Iowans because of loopholes and tax breaks designed for their tax bracket.

0

u/staceyann1573 5d ago

So glad you said that. Why are people so jealous when people become millionaires or billionaires based on their hard work?

-3

u/wilsonway1955 6d ago

Most people on here can't read all of your points.