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Published: 11 October 2015

When I first moved to Sumner as a kid, I was asked to be in a rock group. I said I preferred country music. It turns out the rocks are here EVERY year and you get paid to pick them up, which was a change from my earlier experience in the hills of Clayton County. Tis the season of rock picking, hay making and detasseling is not far behind. While this work isn’t as readily available as it once was, it still plays an important part of our local economy.

Whether a child who is a dependent has to file his or her own return generally depends on two easily determined factors: whether the money is earned or passive and the amount of income. That is, for most kids, did you put it in the bank and watch it grow or did you get your hands dirty or give up your time to get the money.

The rule for children and other dependents is that if the only income is earned and it is less than $5,700, there’s no need to file a federal income tax return.

Even if your child doesn’t have to file a federal income tax return, he or she may want to file a return if federal income tax was withheld from income. This doesn’t usually happen for farm jobs or babysitting, but it might if they fill out the W4 wrong at the fast food restaurant. Your child might also want to file if he or she qualifies for certain credits which would result in a refund.

The rules are different for unearned income like dividends and interest. It is referred to as the “Kiddie Tax”.  For children under the age of 18, or under the age of 23 while a full time student, the first $950 is considered tax-free and the next $950 is taxed at your child’s rate. Unearned income over $1,900 is taxed at the child’s parents’ tax rate  

Read more: GET TO WORK KIDS

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Published: 11 October 2015

70% of North American farms will change hands by 2025. This is not just ownership, but who farms the land. This provides plenty of opportunities for American farmers. We need to get over the concept that farming is a lifestyle that deserves special provisions protections and romanticism. It is apparent that it is a business to the non farm sector, and unless the operators of farms act like business men and women, they will be consumed by those who do. Direct payments and counter cyclicals will be under attack and likely crop insurance will be offered up to replace the guarantee payments. The kitchen table  and the board room table are two different places for a reason.

Farming has 3 golden times in the last 100 years (1) during the 1910's (when the US fed Europe as Europe shot each other into the stone ages), (2) during World War II (when every body wanted to be like Europe and shot everything back into the stone ages)  and the period thereafter and (3) during the mid 1970's (again when our competitors abroad couldn't meet the demand).  Drive through the country and look at when houses were built. Lots of 1915 builds still dot the country side, with plenty of post World War II expansions and 1970's ranch style houses. Coincidence, I think not.
Perhaps another set of good times happened from 2008-2012  Number crunchers indicate that for the period 2002-2012 years indicate that farmers have had the best overall profitability over the those three years

Good times are defined by the lack of good times that follow. If we are in a good time, it is important for agriculture business operators to take advantage and prepare for the bad that follows.
So how does a farmer operator behave like a business operator? Acknowledge the elements you need to be successful, assemble those elements and place them into action.
     
Acknowledge that you must consider   management of revenues, farm input costs and   your interest rate management. These will need to be balanced. Obsessing over one will hurt the other two. Getting a handle on costs of production will help you make sales decisions that are rationally based, not emotionally based on who has the best bragging rights at the Co-op.
Another item to watch is your repayment capacity.  This is calculated by taking your net farm income adding non-farm income plus depreciation and interest expense on long-term debt and capital leases.  From this total, subtract long-term debt and capital lease payments, net cash incurred for equipment purchases required annually and family living expenses.   This math formula this tells you how liquid you are for this year and the upcoming year.  If this ratio is less than 1, you will have liquidity problems.  It should be greater than 1.5 to 1 to be comfortable and above 2 will give the liquidity to expand, etc. Knowing this will take a lot of drama out of going to see the banker.

Read more: Farm Planning Its not a life style, it’s a business

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Published: 11 October 2015

Time and time again I here business clients who are concerned about protecting their rights to collect against a customer by being concerned that “it might offend them.”  Liens are a perfect example of this.

Under recent Iowa Law, contractors who work on residential structures need to file a notice of commencement of work with the Secretary of State. This notice puts the lender, the home owner and anybody else working on the project that work has begun. This is important as failure to file this notice will prevent a contractor from placing a lien against the finished product.  While very few people would be offended by a bank telling them they  need a lien (which is what a mortgage is) against your property  to make sure you pay as promised, contractors are concerned that those same property owners will have their dander up about a potential lien filing by a contractor. 

It isn’t limited to just contractors. If a farm operator custom feeds for a third party owner, that feeder has a right to file a lien to ensure payment. The lien must be filed with in so many days of the livestock arriving at the property or the lien is not enforceable. Again, the producer sometimes shy’s away from protecting its rights to be paid by the owner of the animals for fear of offending. Feed suppliers can also file a lien to make sure that the feed provided to the livestock is paid back to the party delivering the feed on credit. Failure to protect yourself as a contract feeder or a feed supplier for fear of offending the customer may result in the t  rather offensive outcome of being “out of the money” when the customer files for bankruptcy or other wise doesn’t  have enough money to pay all the creditors.

Read more: Its not personal, its business: File the Lien !

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Published: 11 October 2015

Tax Planning.

Pay Now and Play Later and The Wimpy Doctrine.

In most years, a  tax estimate prepared prior to the end of the year is a valuable tool to allow operators to make decisions on end of year purchases to manage what income tax bracket the operator falls into .

This year, with the looming expiration of decades long tax rates and a return of higher rates, the estimate may take on extra significance, as deciding to trigger income in 2012 may net savings in a lower tax rate than taking the income in 2013. As the law stands today, tax brackets are going to be compressed (meaning more people pay higher rates) and the higher rates are higher than current rates. Additionally, capital gains rates move upward, dividend rates expire, and married tax payers will once again, be penalized in the form of a lower standard deduction than if the tax payers where single and the child tax credit is slashed in half. And finally, section 179, which allowed accelerated expensing of machinery and sheds over the last  years, looks to be limited in the future.

Pay Now and Play Later:

Many farm operators spend money at the end of the year on prepaid expenses as a way to adjust income. Interest cannot be prepaid past what is due and rent prepayments are limited to 12 months.  In order to pass the smell test regarding expenses from the IRS, farm operators would do well to remember the following guide posts:

1.       Terms. Price, quantity and grade without refund or sale back options must be included in the purchase. No throwing money “on the books” to be applied to whatever expenses come up in the future.

2.       Valid, non tax reason, for purchase. Farm operators should document the incentive to prepay (like better price or  concerns regarding specific quantities not being available at a later date (think seed numbers)).

3.       No giant swing in income.  Purchasing a limestone quarry and then attempting to expense it all off as fertilizer expense is distorting. Purchasing a pile of lime to apply with in the next 12 months is likely not.

4.       Only Half. Prepaid expenses should only be about 50%  of non prepaid expense. Operators can look at the last three years in total to show the 50% test is met.

5.       Proof and Payment. Keeping the written offer regarding prepay discounts are a great idea. Additionally, payment by credit card is fine, but offering a check to the supplier and asking them to hold it upon receipt or postdating a check is not acceptable. Likewise, offering a check on an overdrawn account (unless backed by a line of credit) is not a legitimate prepay. Borrowed funds are also okay, as long as the seller is not providing direct financing.  Be ware of wholly owned subsidiaries of the input supplier offering financing as it may knock  the operator out of the benefit they are seeking to maximize.

Read more: Is using Popeye’s buddy Whimpy as a tax planner a bad idea?