Farm Leadership
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My Thoughts on Angus Cattle
On Monday, I spent most of my day in St. Joseph, Missouri and near White Cloud Kansas. I visited our St. Joseph office in the morning and I had a great time meeting the staff and partners at a new office to me. However, this visit really made me feel old since as I looked […]
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The End of Tax Season!
By my unofficial count, this is my 30th tax season. I worked for a small CPA firm in downtown Seattle during my first tax season (while attending college at the University of Washington and being newly married) and the owner giving me a set of partnership returns to work on. I was so proud of […]
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Deferred Sales Contracts
We had a reader ask the following question: “I am delivering 5000 bu of soybeans to the elevator today and will price them at today’s market. I want to receive the money in Jan. 2013 to keep this income out of 2012. do I need to have anything in the contract with CGB for IRS […]
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The Backdoor Roth IRA
With the expected increase in income tax rates next year due to the Medicare Surtax and the possible sunsetting of the Bush tax cuts, now may be a great time to set up a Roth IRA. Unlike a regular IRA, a ROTH is completely tax-free when funds are withdrawn (assuming you meet certain requirements on […]
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Elimination of Estate Tax Bill Proposed in Senate
Senator John Thune, R.-S.D. has introduced the Death Tax Repeal Permanency Act S. 2242, which would permanently abolish the federal estate tax. The Senate bill is identical to H.R. 1259 introduced by House Representative Kevin Brady, R-Texas. The tax is currently set at 35% on estates over $5 million. However, beginning January 1, 2013, the […]
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Number of Farms Get Smaller, But They Produce More
Most of you are aware that the number of farms in the US continues to get smaller, but they produce more and more. In the dairy sector, one report from the Idaho Dairymen’s Association indicated in 2008, there were over 800 dairies in the state of Idaho. Just three years later, this number had dropped […]
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Reprieve for Farmers Filing Late Due to MF Global
Most farmers file by March 1 of each year to escape having to pay estimated tax payments in January. This year, many farmers received their Form 1099 from MF Global very late and in many cases after March 1. The IRS just announced penalty relief for any farmers who had to file their return after […]
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If It Walks Like a Duck, Quacks Like a Duck, It is Probably a Duck
A recent Court Case reminded me that sometimes taxpayers and their advisors can sometimes go too far in trying to create favorable tax situations. For many years now, taxpayers have taking advantage of using cost segregation studies to allocate part of the construction or purchase cost of buildings to items more closely related to equipment […]
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Top Estate Planning Mistakes Farmers Make – Conclusion
We just finished a three part series on the top estate planning mistakes farmers make and we had some readers ask which one was most important? This is strictly my opinion, but I think the first one listed “procrastination” is the worst mistake farmers and probably all business owners make. Many farmers will never have […]
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Top Estate Planning Mistakes Farmers Make – Part 3
We conclude our series on the top estate planning mistakes farmers make today with: Treat all the kids the same – In our seminars on this subject, the question of how to treat farm and non-farm kids can be the most vexing issues for farmers. Many farmers who control the farm and only pass down […]