Farm Leadership
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NASS County Data Is Out
NASS just released data yesterday on corn and soybean (along with some other crops) yields by county for 2014. NASS presents yield per harvested acre in their report, however, yield per planted acre is the requirement for ARC-CO payment calculations. Therefore, you cannot simply take the yield listed per NASS and use that in your calculations. In […]
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Here We Go Again
Yet again, we have additional guidance on health insurance arrangements where employers reimburse employees for individual health insurance policies or pay individual policy premiums directly. These types of arrangements, called employer payment plans, are disallowed by the ACA and are subject to steep excise taxes. In Notice 2015-17, the IRS made some transitional relief available […]
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You Don’t Need to File Those Form 3115s After All
The IRS had issued new Regulations more than a year ago dealing with repairs, materials and supplies and related capitalization of asset purchases. In my opinion the new Regulations were actually fairly taxpayer friendly, however, there was much discussion by many firms that all taxpayers would be required to file a Form 3115 (a form […]
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Join US For AICPA Ag Conference in July
The final agenda for the 2015 AICPA Ag Conference is just about complete and I think it will be as good or possibly even better than the 2014 Ag Conference held in Austin, Texas last May. There will be good mix of presentations. There will not be just one focus on tax, accounting or producers, […]
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Will FAV Favor ARC-IC
For farmers who grow vegetables (sweet corn, sugar beets, green peas, etc.), a reduction in their base acres for payments may occur each year. FAV (fruits and vegetables) requires farmers to reduce their base acres for acres planted to either fruits or vegetables. Since the new programs do not make payments on all base acres, farmers […]
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Harvert Price Option Event on the Hill
Tomorrow, February 12, 2015, Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Representative John Duncan Jr. (R-TN) will introduce legislation pertaining to the Harvest Price Option (HPO) available for most revenue crop insurance programs. The HPO allows for a claim when prices are actually higher than the initial discovery price. For example, during the 2012 drought, having this option […]
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Is a Bird in Hand Worth 4 in the Bush?
For many of our farmers mulling the decision between ARC and PLC it comes down to is it better to grab the “bird in hand” by electing ARC-CO on all corn acres (and wheat in the Pacifc Northwest) versus electing PLC in case prices go low for several straight years. I have run numerous calculations […]
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How Do Repair Regulations Affect My Farm Operation?
The IRS issued new regulations on how to account for repair and maintenance costs and the required capitalization of fixed assets purchases about a year and half ago and most of the provisions are now effective with tax returns beginning January 1, 2014. I have taught on this subject at several tax CPE classes in […]
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My Neighbor is Getting an ARC Payment, Why Not Me!
I am starting to hear some of the “coffee talk” about neighbors getting ARC-CO payments for corn this year, but the farmer is not getting one and they ask “How can that be?”. Now, the term neighbor can be a little borad since the neighbor may be 10-20 miles away, however, they may be at least […]
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Excessive Claims for Fuel Tax Credits Makes the IRS “Dirty Dozen List”
The IRS just released a bulletin yesterday announcing that filing tax returns claiming excessive amounts of fuel tax credits is now on their “Dirty Dozen” list of tax scams for the 2015 filing season. We find that most farmers purchase fuel that is exempt for state and federal gas taxes for those gallons that are consumed […]