March, 2010
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Your CRP Payments May Not Be Subject to SE Taxes
For many years the IRS battled with taxpayers regarding whether Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) payments received by retired taxpayers were subject to self-employment taxes. The taxpayers argued that once a farmer is retired, the payments are simply rent payments and not subject to these taxes. The IRS countered that the payments are still subject to […]
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How a Tax Credit Works
A reader on the Agweb.com site left an interesting comment about my posting on the Ag Security Credit. His question was whether an income tax credit needs to be recorded as income in the year after you take the credit. The answer in almost all cases is no. If a farmer takes a business tax […]
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Where’s My Step Up
Some of my readers may have noticed that I have started writing a blog on the Agweb.com site. From my web traffic, I can see that many of those readers have checked out this site. I am honored to be doing the blog, but with three weeks left in tax season, I am hoping that […]
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Energy Credit Applies to Farmers Too
In preparing income tax returns this tax season, I am seeing a lot more of the non-business energy property credit being taken on taxpayers returns. This credit is for the installation of exterior doors and windows, insulation and related materials to make a home more energy efficient. The credit is allowed for 30% of the […]
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The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Health Care Act) – Tax Provisions
My good friend Scott Heintzelman of The Exuberant Accountant recently posted a summary of the information on the new Health Care act that passed Sunday night and I thought I would post the same summary since this new Act will affect all of us as Americans and as farmers. Premium Assistance Credit The act provides […]
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Take Your Chemical Ag Credit
In 2008, Congress enacted a new agricultural chemical security credit that may apply to some farmers and will certainly apply to those farmers who have expanded their business into the fertilizer and farm chemicals operations. This credit allows you to take a 30% credit for expenses related to enhancing the security of a facility in […]
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$70,000 of Taxable Income Equals Zero Tax
There is about a month left before the April 15 tax filing deadline (except for those people who file extensions) and one of the nice tax benefits still available this year is the long-term capital gains rates for those taxpayers in the normal 15% tax bracket and lower. For those taxpayers, the net capital gains […]
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Alan Kluis of Sucessful Farming has a very good article on marketing and lock in in your crop insurance plans for the upcoming crop year. In the article, he indicates you need to allocate your bushels between insured bushels (A bushels) and non-insured bushels (B bushels). On the insured bushels, you need to meet with […]
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What’s Your Farm Ratios
As advisors, we see many business and farm financial statements through out the year. Most of the successful farm businesses have several key financial ratios in common. Even though each farm business is different, it is surprising how these ratios tend to be in the same range for each business. These key ratios that […]
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Farmville is not Farming
Facebook has a game called Farmville that has become very popular. When my wife first started playing the game, I almost thought I was going to have to get her some treatment for her addiction. I would constantly get messages from Facebook asking me to do something for her Farmville game. The first couple of […]