Utah State University Cooperative Extension hosts a site called Rural Tax Education that “provides farmers and ranchers, other agricultural producers and Extension educators with a source for agriculturally related income and self-employment tax information that is both current and easy to understand. Tax issues are important for agricultural operations because income and self-employment taxes are a major cost and also because more and more USDA programs are being linked to a producer’s federal income tax return.
The site also offers a 143-page Tax Guide for Owners and Operators of Small and Medium Size Farms (courtesy of LGUTEF and USDA-RMA). Particularly relevant to 2012 and the current drought, they offer info on the following Hot Topic: “In many cases the damage to farms, rural businesses and private homes from extreme weather qualifies as a casualty loss due to the unexpected damage. The Internal Revenue Code has provisions that allow persons affected by such sudden events to apply beneficial tax rules to their circumstances if they meet the qualifications of these rules. Involuntary conversion and a related article on weather related sales of livestock explain how to apply the rules to businesses as well as personal casualties.”
There are over a dozen in-depth Tax Topics such as Farm, Farming and Who’s a Farmer for Tax Purposes, Farm Losses versus Hobby Losses: Farmers Must Plan Ahead to Avoid Adverse Tax Consequences, and Weather Related Sales of Livestock. There are also archived webinars on topics of interest.
On their Tax Topics page they offer new 2011 Sample Tax Returns .
