In my previous post, I discussed a situation that applies to many farmers where there was joint ownership of land and whether a partnership tax return is required to be filed.  In that post, I indicated that in many cases, a partnership tax return is required and if one is not filed, then the penalty starting this year is much higher than it has been in the past.

With this post, we will review how to elect not to file a partnership tax return and the advantages to doing it.  In many cases, the mere co-ownership of farm land that is rented to a farm will not be classified as a partnership, however, it is very easy for the landlords to get tripped up in the process.  If the ownership is set up in an new LLC, then usually the IRS is going to assume the entity is a partnership.

The benefits of electing out of a partnership are as follows:

• The owners may make tax elections that are different from each other;
• The loss limitations at the partnership level will not apply;
• You will not be required to file a partnership income tax return.  This can not only save you the cost of preparing a return, but in certain states such as California, the fee to file a partnership tax return (structured as an LLC) can be in excess of $5,000 annually.

If you have determined that you do not want to be a partnership, then the election must be made with the tax return in the year that you want to elect out of the partnership rules.  The partners must all consent to this election.  Even if you fail to make the proper election, it may nonetheless be deemed to have occurred if your facts and circumstances indicate that you intended to do this from the entity inception.

Another important rule is that this election is only available for passive farm rental operations.  If you are a farm partnership performing farm services, you can not elect out of the partnership rules.

My next post, however, will discuss allowing husband and wives to elect out farm operating partnerships.

I think that most farmers know that the residential and commercial real estate markets have gone through dramatic changes in the last few years.  I know that in our area that residential prices peaked out about three years ago and in many of the cities near me the price is at least 50% below the peak.

Many would ask how that might affect you as a farmer.  The affect may come when you get your real estate tax bill for this year or next.   Most think that if the value of your property increases, then your property tax bill with increase or vice versus.  The reality is that it is the change in value of your property versus all other properties that determines your property bill.  Most of the taxes that are raised and paid by real estate taxes are of a fixed nature.  Therefore, the value of the property is just a mechanism to allocate the total taxes owed.

Lets take an example:

Suppose the county is raising $1,000 in taxes for the year and you have a farm worth $500,000 and your neighbor has a house that is worth $500,000.  This means that 50% of the total taxes raised will be allocated to each of you.  You are your neighbor will each pay $500.  Now lets say that your farm increases in value to $750,000 this year and your neighbor’s house drops in value to $250,000.  Then your tax bill will go from $500 to $750 and your neighbor’s bill will drop to $250.

In many states with large farmland concentrations, this valuation adjustment has already happened or may happen this year.  This means that your property tax bill may go up even more than the value of your land has risen.  There may not be much you can do about it, but you need to know that it can happen.

Bruce Johnson of the Department of Agricultural Economics from the University of Nebraska has a very good power point presentation on this issue for Nebraska farmers, however, the concepts apply to any farm operation.

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 SE tax in many cases.  This argument went on for many years with various court cases deciding the issue one way or the other.

Congress finally decided to stop part of the argument by passing a law a couple of years ago that stated if a farmer is collecting social security payments, then all CRP payments are exempt from self-employment tax.  This is true even if the farmer is still actively farming.  This law is in effect for any payments received after December 31, 2007.

When you prepare your form SE to show your income subject to self-employment taxes, you will back out these payments in arriving at your net SE earnings.

The argument is still alive regarding receiving CRP after a farmer retires and before they start collecting social security benefits.

If this situation applies to you, make sure to discuss it with your tax advisor.

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 credit such as the Ag Security Credit, they reduce their income taxes by the amount of the credit.  Since you can not deduct federal income taxes in arriving at your farm or other income, by default, a reduction in your federal income tax would not result in additional taxable income to you.

Also, there seems to be some confusion in how a tax credit works versus a deduction.  A credit is a 100% offset against your income tax while a deduction only offsets your tax based upon what tax bracket you are in.  For example, if you receive an income tax credit of $1,000 and your tax bill is at least a $1,000, then you will reduce your taxes by $1,000.  However, if you have a deduction of $1,000 and you are in the highest current income tax bracket of 35%, then you will only offset your tax bill by $350.

Please read the post at the Agweb.com site for further clarification.

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 costs of the products including installation costs.  This is a direct credit against your income taxes so it is much better than a deduction.  There is a limit of $1,500 and the credit is currently schedule to expire at the end of 2010.

Another related credit is for installing residential energy efficient property.  Projects that qualify are the installation of:

• Solar electric property;
• Solar water heating;
• Small wind energy;
• Geothermal heat pumps; and
• Fuel cell.

The nice thing about this credit is that there is no limitation on the amount that you can spend that will qualify for the credit.  This means that if you spend $100,000 on putting in a solar electric project, then you could deduct up to 30% of the cost against your income taxes.

Check both of these credits out and you should review this with your tax advisor to verify if the project applies to you.

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 for refundable tax credits that eligible taxpayers can use to help cover the cost of health insurance premiums for individuals and families who purchase health insurance through a state health benefit exchange (which each state is required to establish under section 1311 of the act). Under new IRS § 36B, an eligible individual will enroll in a plan offered through an exchange and report his or her income to the exchange. Based on the information provided to the exchange and his or her income, the individual will receive a premium assistance credit. Treasury will pay the premium assistance credit amount directly to the insurance plan in which the individual is enrolled. The individual will then pay to the plan in which he or she is enrolled the dollar difference between the premium tax credit amount and the total premium charged for the plan.

Eligibility for the premium assistance credit is based on the individuals income for the tax year ending two years prior to the enrollment period. The premium assistance credit is available for individuals (single or joint filers) with household incomes between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level (for the family size involved) who do not received health insurance through an employer or a spouse’s employer. The credit amount is determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, based on the percentage of income the cost of premiums represents, rising from 2% of income for those at 100% of federal poverty level for the family size involved to 9.5% of income for those at 400% of federal poverty level for the family size involved.

The premium assistance credit will be available for years ending after Dec. 31, 2013.

Small Business Tax Credit

The act provides tax credits for small businesses and individuals designed to increase levels of health insurance coverage, as part of the IRC § 38 general business credit. Small businesses defined as businesses with 25 or fewer employees and average annual wages of less than $40,000 would be eligible for a credit of up to 50% of nonelective contributions the business makes on behalf of their employees for insurance premiums (new IRC § 45R). Tax-exempt organizations would get a 35% credit against payroll taxes.

Employers with 10 or fewer employees and average wages of less than $20,000 would get 100% of the credit; it would be phased out, up to the 25-employee limit. The $20,000 average annual wages figure will be indexed for inflation after 2013. Five-percent owners under the section 416 top-heavy plan rules and 2% S corporation shareholders are not included in the definition of employee, but leased employees are counted.

This credit is available for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2009.

Excise Tax on Uninsured Individuals

The act creates new IRC § 5000A, which requires U.S. citizens and legal residents to maintain minimum amounts of health insurance coverage. Minimum essential coverage includes various government-sponsored programs, eligible employer-sponsored plans, plans in the individual market, grandfathered group health plans and other coverage as recognized by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury. This requirement would not apply to individuals who are incarcerated, not legally present in the United States or maintain religious exemptions.

Individuals who fail to maintain minimum essential coverage will be subject to a penalty equal to $750. The fee for an uninsured individual under age 18 is one-half of the adult fee. The total household penalty may not exceed 300% of the per-adult penalty.

The penalty amount will be phased in over the years 2014-2016 and will be indexed for inflation after 2016. However, liens and seizures are not authorized to enforce this penalty, and noncompliance will not be subject to criminal penalties.

This provision is effective for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2013. The reconciliation bill if enacted would change the amount of the penalty.

Tax-Exempt Health Insurers

The act provides for a program administered by the Department of Health and Human Services that will foster the creation of qualified nonprofit health insurance issuers to offer health insurance. Insurers receiving federal grants or loans under the program would be exempt from federal tax (under IRC § 501(a)) for periods when the insurer complies with the terms of the program.

Reporting Requirements

The act requires insurers (including employers who self-insure) that provide minimum essential coverage to any individual during a calendar year to report certain health insurance coverage information to both the covered individual and to the IRS (new IRC § 6055).

The information required to be reported includes: (1) the name, address, and taxpayer identification number of the primary insured, and the name and taxpayer identification number of each other individual obtaining coverage under the policy; (2) the dates during which the individual was covered under the policy during the calendar year; (3) whether the coverage is a qualified health plan offered through an exchange; (4) the amount of any premium tax credit or cost-sharing reduction received by the individual with respect to such coverage; and (5) such other information as the Secretary may require.

This requirement is effective for calendar years beginning after 2013.

Medical Care Itemized Deduction Threshold

The threshold for the itemized deduction for unreimbursed medical expenses is increased from 7.5% of AGI to 10% of AGI for regular income tax purposes. This is effective for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2012, except that for 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016, if either the taxpayer or the taxpayer’s spouse turns 65 before the end of the tax year, the increased threshold does not apply and the threshold remains at 7.5% of AGI.

Cafeteria Plans

The act makes premiums for coverage under a qualified health plan offered through an exchange a qualified benefit under a cafeteria plan. This provision applies only to cafeteria plans established by a small employer that elects to make all its full-time employees eligible for one or more qualified plans offered in the small group market through an exchange.

This provision is effective for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2013.

Additional Hospital Insurance Tax on High-Income Taxpayers

Under the act, the employee portion of the hospital insurance tax part of FICA, currently amounting to 1.45% of covered wages, is increased by 0.9% on wages that exceed a threshold amount. The additional tax is imposed on the combined wages of both the taxpayer and the taxpayer’s spouse, in the case of a joint return. The threshold amount is $250,000 in the case of a joint return or surviving spouse, $125,000 in the case of a married individual filing a separate return, and $200,000 in any other case.

For self-employed taxpayers, the same additional hospital insurance tax applies to the hospital insurance portion of SECA tax on self-employment income in excess of the threshold amount.

The provision applies to remuneration received and tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2012.

Employer Responsibility

Under new IRC § 4980H, an applicable large employer that does not offer coverage for all its full-time employees, offers minimum essential coverage that is unaffordable, or offers minimum essential coverage that consists of a plan under which the plan’s share of the total allowed cost of benefits is less than 60%, is required to pay a penalty if any full-time employee is certified to the employer as having purchased health insurance through a state exchange with respect to which a tax credit or cost-sharing reduction is allowed or paid to the employee.

An employer is an applicable large employer with respect to any calendar year if it employed an average of at least 50 full-time employees during the preceding calendar year.

An applicable large employer who fails to offer its full-time employees and their dependents the opportunity to enroll in minimum essential coverage under an employer-sponsored plan for any month is subject to a penalty if at least one of its full-time employees is certified to the employer as having enrolled in health insurance coverage purchased through a state exchange with respect to which a premium tax credit or cost-sharing reduction is allowed or paid to such employee or employees. The penalty for any month is an excise tax equal to the number of full-time employees over a 30-employee threshold during the applicable month (regardless of how many employees are receiving a premium tax credit or cost-sharing reduction) multiplied by one-twelfth of $2,000.

An applicable large employer who offers, for any month, its full-time employees and their dependents the opportunity to enroll in minimum essential coverage under an employer-sponsored plan is subject to a penalty if any full-time employee is certified to the employer as having enrolled in health insurance coverage purchased through a state exchange with respect to which a premium tax credit or cost-sharing reduction is allowed or paid to such employee or employees.

This provision is effective for months beginning after Dec. 31, 2013.

Fees on Health Plans

Under new section 4375, a fee is imposed on each specified health insurance policy. The fee is equal to two dollars (one dollar in the case of policy years ending during fiscal year 2013) multiplied by the average number of lives covered under the policy. The issuer of the policy is liable for payment of the fee.

For any policy year beginning after September 30, 2014, the dollar amount is equal to the sum of: (1) the dollar amount for policy years ending in the preceding fiscal year, plus (2) an amount equal to the product of (A) the dollar amount for policy years ending in the preceding fiscal year, multiplied by (B) the percentage increase in the projected per capita amount of National Health Expenditures, as most recently published by the Secretary before the beginning of the fiscal year.

The issuer of the policy is liable for payment of the fee.

In the case of an applicable self-insured health plan, new IRC § 4376 imposes a fee equal to two dollars (one dollar in the case of policy years ending during fiscal year 2013) multiplied by the average number of lives covered under the plan. For any policy year beginning after September 30, 2014, the dollar amount is equal to the sum of: (1) the dollar amount for policy years ending in the preceding fiscal year, plus (2) an amount equal to the product of (A) the dollar amount for policy years ending in the preceding fiscal year, multiplied by (B) the percentage increase in the projected per capita amount of National Health Expenditures, as most recently published by the Secretary before the beginning of the fiscal year. The plan sponsor is liable for payment of the fee.

The fee is effective with respect to policies and plans for portions of policy or plan years beginning on or after Oct. 1, 2012.

Excise Tax on High-Cost Employer Plans

New IRC § 4980I imposes an excise tax on insurers if the aggregate value of employer-sponsored health insurance coverage for an employee (including, for purposes of the provision, any former employee, surviving spouse and any other primary insured individual) exceeds a threshold amount. The tax is equal to 40% of the aggregate value that exceeds the threshold amount. For 2018, the threshold amount is $10,200 for individual coverage and $27,500 for family coverage, multiplied by the health cost adjustment percentage (as defined in the act) and increased by the age and gender adjusted excess premium amount (as defined in the act).

The provision is effective for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2017.

Tax on HSA Distributions

The additional tax on distributions from a health savings account (HSA) or an Archer medical savings account (MSA) that are not used for qualified medical expenses is increased to 20% of the disbursed amount, effective for disbursements made during tax years starting after Dec. 31, 2010.

Tax on Indoor Tanning Services

The act imposes a 10% tax on amounts paid for indoor tanning services (new IRC § 5000B). Like a sales tax, the tax will be collected from the person tanning when payment for the tanning services is made. The provision applies to services performed on or after July 1, 2010.

Flexible Spending Account

The act mandates that the maximum amount available for reimbursement of incurred medical expenses of an employee, the employee’s dependents, and any other eligible beneficiaries with respect to the employee, under a health flexible spending account for a plan year (or other 12-month coverage period) must not exceed $2,500. The provision is effective for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2012.

SIMPLE Cafeteria Plans for Small Business

The act establishes a SIMPLE cafeteria plan for small businesses. Under the provision, an eligible small employer is provided with a safe harbor from the nondiscrimination requirements for cafeteria plans as well as from the nondiscrimination requirements for specified qualified benefits offered under a cafeteria plan, including group term life insurance, benefits under a self insured medical expense reimbursement plan, and benefits under a dependent care assistance program. Under the safe harbor, a cafeteria plan and the specified qualified benefits are treated as meeting the specified nondiscrimination rules if the cafeteria plan satisfies minimum eligibility and participation requirements and minimum contribution requirements.

The provision is effective for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2010.

Expansion of Adoption Credit, Adoption Assistance Programs

For 2010, the maximum adoption credit is increased to $13,170 per eligible child (a $1,000 increase). This increase applies to both non-special needs adoptions and special needs adoptions. Also, the adoption credit is made refundable. The new dollar limit and phase-out of the adoption credit are adjusted for inflation in tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2010. Also, the scheduled sunset of EGTRRA provisions relating to the adoption credit is delayed for one year (i.e., the sunset becomes effective for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2011).

For adoption assistance programs, the maximum exclusion is increased to $13,170 per eligible child (a $1,000 increase). The new dollar limit and income limitations of the employer-provided adoption assistance exclusion are adjusted for inflation in tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2010. The EGTRRA sunset of provisions relating to adoption assistance programs is also delayed for one year (i.e., the sunset becomes effective for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2011).

Charitable Hospitals

The act establishes new requirements applicable to section 501(c)(3) hospitals, regarding conducting a community health needs assessment, adopting a written financial assistance policy, limitations on charges, and collection activities.

Information Reporting

The act requires employers to disclose on each employee’s annual Form W-2 the value of the employee’s health insurance coverage sponsored by the employer, effective for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2010.

The act requires businesses to file an information return (e.g., a Form 1099) for all payments aggregating $600 or more in a calendar year to a single payee, including corporations (other than a payee that is a tax-exempt corporation). The provision is effective for payments made after Dec. 31, 2011.

Return Information Disclosure

The act allows the IRS, upon written request of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to disclose certain taxpayer return information if the taxpayers income is relevant in determining the amount of the tax credit or cost-sharing reduction, or eligibility for participation in the specified state health subsidy programs.

Upon written request from the Commissioner of Social Security, the IRS may disclose the certain limited return information of a taxpayer whose Medicare Part D premium subsidy, according to the records of the Secretary, may be subject to adjustment.

The act contains a provision to extend the general exclusion for reimbursements for medical care expenses under an employer-provided accident or health plan to any child of an mployee who has not attained age 27 as of the end of the tax year and codifying the economic substance doctrine.

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 tax is zero percent (0%).  That right, it is equal to zero.  This rate also applies to any qualified dividends that you receive during the year.

For many farmers, they might have a loss or low income from farming, however, they may have sold some land that they owned for several years at a gain.  In the right situation, these farmers could have at least $80,000 or $90,000 of long-term capital gains that would be taxed at zero.  Lets take a look at an example.

Say we have a farm family that breaks even on their farm operation, has no other taxable income except a long-term capital gain from the sale of some farm land.  This capital gain is $85,000.  The net taxable income of the family is equal to total income of $85,000 less their standard deduction of $11,400 less two exemptions of $3,650 for net taxable income of $66,300.  The 15% bracket is phased out at $67,900 of taxable income, so their net federal tax for the year is zero.

Now, if they live a state with state income taxes, the farmer may have to pay state income taxes on this income, but for federal purposes, there is no tax.

This break is currently only for this year and will expire at the end of the year.  Congress may elect to extend it, but right now, nobody knows for sure.  If this type of situation applies to you for this year or last year, try to make sure you maximize the savings from this favorable treatment.

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 your crop insurance agent and figure out the best crop revenue insurance policy for your farming operation.  He indicates one of the benefits of these bushels is that it reduces your financial risk if you get a large portion of your crops sold ahead.  It allows you a “license to sell”.

The A bushels (the insured bushels) are the bushels that you can aggressively sell ahead by hedging since you have insured them.

The B bushels (the non-insured bushels) will be price protected with put options.  However, the key question is what price level.  The difference can be $15 per acre for corn and $10 per acre for soybeans.

Here are 7 questions that Alan says will help evaluate which policy is best for you:

1. What is the price guarantee that you can lock in when the average February price is computed on February 26, 2010.
2. How high is your actual production history (APH) versus your farms productivity.  The higher your APH the more revenue you can lock in.
3. What is the price level of the CRC guarantee compared to the actual price at the March 13th signup.  A higher market price on March 13th makes putting on more hedges a possible better alternative than buying higher percentage CRC policy.
4. Does your farm qualify for a lower cost enterprise discount?  This can be a huge cost savings or allow you to buy a higher guarantee.
5. What are your yield prospects for 2010.  If you still have your 2009 corn crop out in the field as you read this, it may make getting a bumper crop difficult.
6. Are you comfortable using hedges or hedge to arrive contracts to get the crop forward sold?  The most profitable farms that he had worked with in 2009 had their crop mostly sold ahead by summer.
7. Can you use puts to get price protection on your B bushels.

As he indicated “The most profitable farms I worked with this year had a lot of corn and soybeans sold ahead by mid summer.  They made money on the hedges, money on the corn puts, lost money on the soybean puts, but most important, they harvested a great crop and they had a lot of revenue locked in on every acre they grew.”

This is a great article to read and I look forward to reading Alan’s column every month.

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 we look at are as follows:

• Current Ratio – This is the ratio of current assets comprised of cash, inventories and receivables divided by current liabilities comprised of short-term notes payable, accounts payable, accrued liabilities and current portion of long-term debt.  This ratio determines how much of your assets will be available to pay off the debts owed over the next year.  It is important to include any long-term debt that will be paid off in the next year.  This ratio should exceed 2:1 and for most successful farm businesses, it is usually over 3:1.

• Net Worth to Debt – This is the ratio of your farm net worth divided by the total debt of the farm.  The higher the ratio the less your farm is leveraged.  Most successful farms will have a ratio that exceeds 2:1 and in most cases will approach 5:1.  A starting farmer’s ratio will usually be much lower than a long-term many generation farmer.  This is one of the ratios that bankers will always put the most importance on.

• EBIDTA – This is your farm earnings before interest, depreciation, taxes and amortization.  The reason this ratio is important is that it places each farm operation on the same level, i.e., you are able to compare a farm bought for cash to a farm bought with debt.  This will let you know for each farm or farm unit what income is being generated by the farm.  This income should always have an expense component for the farmer’s salary to make it comparable to other businesses.  The ratio of EBIDTA to net farm sales will vary greatly depending on the type of farm crop grown, but in general, we should see a ratio that exceeds 20% or more.

• Machinery costs to sales – This ratio seems to be one of the best ratios in determining how profitable a farm is.  The lower that a farm operation can keep this number, then this farm will usually end up in the upper farms in profitability.  Some farmers will lease new equipment each year while others will keep the same farm iron forever, the key is to keep this ratio as low as possible and still get the crop grown and harvested.

I have given you four of the key ratios that I see.  Have you computed yours and are there others that you use on an annual basis.  Let me know!

To maximize your profit for your farm, it is very important to determine what your annual fixed costs are and determine if you are maximizing your amortization of these costs on your farm.  Fixed costs are those costs that do not materially change with production increases and decreases. 

Some examples of fixed costs are:

• Depreciation on your equipment
• Insurance costs on equipment
• Your annual salary cost for providing services to the farm operation
• Office related costs
• Other annuals salaries for workers who are not at full capacity

These costs are mostly fixed and if you can increase your production to full capacity, these costs per unit of production will decrease substantially.  The goal is to maximize your production to equal the full amortization of these fixed costs.

Lets say you have a farm with 1,000 acres of production and your total annual fixed costs are $100,000.  This means your average fixed cost per acre is $100.  If you have enough equipment and capacity to farm 2,000 acres and all of your variable costs will remain the same, you will reduce your fixed cost amortization from $100 to $50.  This will result in additional profits to the farm operation of $50,000.

Try calculating these costs for your farm operation and see how it would effect your bottom line.

However, you also need to be careful that as you approach full capacity, you may have to make major investments to go slightly over full capacity.  This can then put your back with higher fixed cost amortization.