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Crop Insurance Payouts Lower in 2015
Gary Schnitkey of the University of Illinois just posted an article in FarmDoc Daily on an analysis of crop insurance damage payments in 2015. In 2015, the entire loss ratio for the industry was only .65 (1 is breakeven). This ratio is much lower than the .97 ratio from 2010 to 2015 and also much […]
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When Should You Pay Your Spouse and Kids?
My father was 47 when I was born (I am the oldest of three kids) and he elected to start receiving social security at age 62 (when I was 15). When a person elects to take social security benefits before full retirement age, there is a limit on how much you can earn before you […]
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What is Reasonable Compensation?
In the H.W. Johnson, Inc. Tax Court case issued yesterday, the Court found that a bonus arrangement paying out close to 95% of the net income of the company to the two key shareholders was in fact, reasonable compensation. They also found that a $500,000 payment to an affiliated company was allowed even though there […]
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Does FSA Allow Section 179 for Corporations
About two years ago we posted that FSA was not allowing Section 179 as a deduction for S corporations and LLC/LLP/LPs. We communicated our concerns to FSA and to others in Congress, etc. and thought that the FSA would update their interpretation to reflect Section 179 as an expense in arriving at AGI for these […]
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New HSA limits for 2017
A health savings account (HSA) allows taxpayers to set aside funds for health expenses. A deduction for the amount contributed is allowed as a deduction up to the limit allowed by the Code. This deduction is indexed to inflation and the IRS just announced the amounts allowed for 2017 as: Singles – $3,400 up from […]
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Pooling is Back!
Senator Backus a few years ago proposed replacing the current tax depreciation system with a pooling system. Under that system, personal property purchases and sales would be “pooled” together and the net remaining number would be multiplied by a percentage for that year to arrive at your net depreciation deduction. If the net number was […]
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Options for Education
Now that the 2015 tax season is finally done, we can now start focusing on getting our required education (for us CPAs) scheduled for this upcoming year. CPAs are required to get at least 40 hours of education each year. There is not a lot of education focused on farm taxation and succession planning, however, […]
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Limited Means Limited!
Many farm families have formed family limited partnerships or family limited liability entities over the last several years. These entities are usually formed to help with estate and succession planning. However, they can sometimes lead to disputes as one farm family in South Dakota found out. In 2002, the Gibson family formed a family limited […]
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Which is Better – Wages or Gifts?
My father was 47 when I was born and I am the oldest of three kids. My father “retired” at age 62 to start collecting social security, however, he could only earn a certain amount without having to pay the benefits back. My mother was the financial brains of the marriage and over the 3 […]
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Another Choice for Tax and Accounting Training
Since there is exactly two weeks left to tax season (thank-you Washington DC for your interesting holiday on April 15 – NOT), I got to pondering when my last full day off occurred. After much thought, it appears my last full day off was Sunday January 10. I expect no sympathy since this is what […]
