The family-owned business exclusion (FOBE), enacted as part of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 has been severely criticized for being poorly drafted, failing to provide adequate guidance in several areas and imposing eligibility requirements so limiting as to constrain the provision’s usefulness for farm and ranch firms. The Senate Finance Committee, in its version of technical corrections for the 1997 legislation, has addressed some of the concerns in the 1997 law.