Farm Leadership
-
IRS Scammers Net $14 Million from 3,000 Victims
The pervasive IRS impersonation phone scam has claimed nearly 3,000 victims who have collectively paid over $14 million, according to a new warning from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). According to the TIGTA, they have received reports of around 290,000 cases due to this scam from taxpayers since October 2013. In the […]
-
More Than Half of Dairy Producer’s Enroll in Margin Program
The USDA just announced that more than 23,000 dairy producers enrolled in the new Dairy Margin Protection Program for 2015. As an example, in the state of Wisconsin more than 55% of the producers signed up and 55% of those that signed up did so at some level of buy-up coverage. The $4 level was […]
-
USDA Announces More Than $18 Million to Support Training and Development for Beginning Farmers and Ranchers
The USDA announced on January 12, 2015 the availability of more than $18 million in funding to help educate, mentor and enhance the sustainability of the next generation of farmers. This support is available through the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP), administered by USDA’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The BFRDP […]
-
IRS Opens FATCA Data Exchange Service
The Internal Revenue Service has introduced an International Data Exchange Service that financial institutions and tax authorities in other countries will use to report tax information under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA. Financial institutions and host country tax authorities will use IDES to securely send their information reports on financial accounts held […]
-
Should I File By March 1?
Most farmers usually file their income tax return by March 1 of each year. If a farmer files AND pays their tax in full by that date, they are not required to make any estimated taxes for the year. If they do not file by March 1, then they are required to make one estimated […]
-
Loss Limitation Eliminated?
For years beginning after 2009, farmers who received any direct or counter-cyclical payments from the USDA (under Title I of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008), any payment elected to be received in lieu of such payment, or any CCC loan, are limited in the amount of otherwise deductible Schedule F farming loss. […]
-
Accounting Boot Camp
Today, the Farm Financial Standards Council is doing an accounting boot camp in St. Louis for farmers who want to get additional understanding of how to use accrual accounting in their farm operations. Accrual accounting does a much better job of representing your actual farm operation and in most cases even if you do not […]
-
Is California Egg Law the Wave of the Future for Farming?
A recent Business Week article highlighted the current California law regarding the amount of area that chickens are required to have in order for producers to sell eggs into California. The law was passed a couple of years back requiring at least 116 squares inches of space for each laying hen which was almost a […]
-
Will Dairy Margin Protection Make Payments in 2015
Friday, December 19, 2014 was the last day to sign up for the new Dairy Margin Protection Program which insures coverage between $4 and $8 of margin. This margin is based upon the difference between the US All Milk Price and Feed Costs based upon corn, soybean meal and alfalfa hay. Earlier in the year, […]
-
It’s Official
President Obama signed the Tax Extenders Bill yesterday and now farmers can go out and buy as much equipment as they want before year-end to take full advantage of Section 179 for 2014. I have a feeling there may be a fair amount of “phantom” equipment bought between now and the end of the year. […]