Farm Tax Number

[Western]

For Texas residents only, beginning 1/1/2012 you will have to have a tax exempt card to present to the retailer in order to make a tax free purchase. You can apply for this online and print the card out at home very quickly.
You can apply at this website:

Get Ready Texas - Agriculture and Timber Producers

No card, no tax exemption 1/1/2012.

Gary, thanks for the heads up!

 

[blueriver]

I think here you got to have at least 20 acres ... what ya do with it is up to you.

 

[MossRoad]

I'm about to purchase my tractor. I don't presently have a farm tax number and am contemplating whether it's of benefit and even applicable.

I have about 80 acres and the nature of the land is that farming it on any scale would be impractical. The soil is quite sandy and with the rugged terrain, cattle isn't that great an option plus - and I know this sounds bizarre - but I don't really like cows. My neighbor's cows occupied the place for a brief time while the fenceline was down I didn't like what they did to the native grasses, pond edge...oh, and cow pies....

The first issue is reducing tax liability. I'm buying the tractor to accelerate the removal of red cedar primarily. Though avoiding the sales tax would obviously be a plus, I'm not interested in the property tax issues.

The second issue is whether it really applies to me. Though there are immeasurable numbers of people with a sense of entitlement and no integrity, I don't want something I don't deserve.

I'm inclined to just pay my taxes and move on quietly. Thoughts?

We have a farm number. We pay farm rate taxes on our vacant land. We have a tree farm. The crop is due for harvest around 2089.

 

[ustmd]

Thanks for the responses and therein lies the rub. I can't honestly say I'm running the place as a business.

I'm inclined to see whether the state will give my a farm tax number without filing a 1040 F and be very direct as to my intent on land use and see what happens but be prepared to pay the taxes.

Dan, I am with you on this one. We do not try to get Agi exemption or Tax exemption on our property because we are not running a real business. It is a hobby/intentional choice for us and we should not ask other people to subsidize our hobbies.

While this may get me burned at the stake here, people who take advantage of the Agi/tax exemption (and are not really making an effort to run a business) are no different than any other tax cheats or corporations who relocate their headquarters to the post office box in the Caribbean to avoid paying taxes.

 

[randy41]

if you don't have a farming business then there will probably be no tax exemption available. if you don't know whether you have a farming business or not then you don't.

 

[5030]

Here in Michigan, when you buy equipment that's ag related (I don't mean a CUT either) it's automatic but it has to be an ag tractor or related implement.

Of course you don't buy 100 horsepower tractors for mowing the lawn......:laughing:

 

[clemsonfor]

Dan, I am with you on this one. We do not try to get Agi exemption or Tax exemption on our property because we are not running a real business. It is a hobby/intentional choice for us and we should not ask other people to subsidize our hobbies.

While this may get me burned at the stake here, people who take advantage of the Agi/tax exemption (and are not really making an effort to run a business) are no different than any other tax cheats or corporations who relocate their headquarters to the post office box in the Caribbean to avoid paying taxes.

I dont think your referring to me, but im not going to burn you. I pay all my taxes that are due. It does just so happen that i own 130 acres listed by the county as AG. Of this 130 probably 115 are timbered. Timber is a Ag related crop federaly and state wide at least in SC. After all Timber is our #1 agricultural crop in the state. Providing the most dollars and jobs. This is the reason why the US Forest Service is Under the Dept of Agriculture!

I am not cheating anybody, i am taking advantages of all the deductions that i am allowed under the law. If one chooses to ingnore his deductions thats up to him. I would ask this do you claim your student loan intrest of you or your childs loan, how about your mortgage? Ignoring a tax break on my timber land is no different than ignoring your morgage interest deduction, whick in my case it way more than any farm related deductions!

 

[JamesHW]

New york state does not have an acreage limit on farms to get the exemption, but does want to see $10,000.00 a year in sales to qualify for the exemption ($2,000 of which can be forestry related). They do have a provision for transititioning hobby farms to commercial operations over a 3-5 year period. Apparently you just have to submit a completed form to the vendor to get the exemption, but the vendor is not required to give it to you, in which case you would need to apply for a refund.

It's pretty clearly laid out here.

Apparently what is considered Agriculture is fairly broad:

Farms that undertake commercial activity in one of the following areas are eligible for the exemption:
Agriculture; including livestock, dairy, poultry
Floriculture
Horticulture; includes nursery stock, ornamental shrubs, ornamental trees & flowers
Viniculture
Viticulture
Aquaculture; including fish, fish products, water plants & shellfish
Silviculture; including the growing & harvesting of trees, bushes & shrubs
Commercial horse boarding operations are also included. They are defined as enterprises of at least 7 acres and 10 boarding horses that receive $10,000 or more in gross receipts annually from the boarding of horses. This does not include facilities that are primarily used for horse racing.

 

[EddieWalker]

I just heard about the new rules for TX. My land is in timber, as is most of the land in my area. I already have a tax id number to buy red diesel, but it sounds like I'm going to need this new number and card to buy some of the basics like feed for animals and fencing materials without paying sales tax.

Eddie

 

[Bird]

Yep, it's different in different states and I think even in different counties within a state, and of course the rules are always changing. In 1995, I asked our county tax appraisor about an ag appraisal when we bought 10 acres. Planning to sell a few pecans, fruit, and produce off the property wouldn't do it, but he said if I had one cow on it . . .. I told him the neighbor right behind me had already insisted on giving me $50 to let his cows use my pasture. I got the ag appraisal. And the first year I filed a Schedule F, I took everything to an accountant and he didn't even charge me; said I already had it all done correctly. But I don't think the same situation would work now.:laughing: