IRS Disagrees With Morehouse Ruling (Of Course)
The IRS released on October 16, 2014 a new bulletin on their website (in the small business section) regarding the taxation of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) payments. Although the release was dated after the Morehouse appeal case which was released on October 10, 2014, the IRS has not changed their stance regarding the taxation of CRP payments. Unless you are collecting social security benefits, their position is that all CRP payments are subject to self-employment tax even if you are a passive owner of CRP ground.
Now since this release is so close to the Morehouse case (which the IRS lost in a 2-1 decision), it may be that the IRS wrote this release several days before and simply decided to post it to the website. This is in direct conflict with the Morehouse decision and it will be interesting to see if the IRS updates this before tax season begins.
Paul Neiffer, CPA
Paul Neiffer is a certified public accountant and business advisor specializing in income taxation, accounting services, and succession planning for farmers and agribusiness processors. Paul is a principal with CliftonLarsonAllen in Walla Walla, Washington, as well as a regular speaker at national conferences and contributor at agweb.com. Raised on a farm in central Washington, he has been immersed in the ag industry his entire life, including the last 30 years professionally. Paul and his wife purchase an 180 acre ranch in 2016 and enjoy keeping it full of animals.
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