Deductible Expenses

The ordinary and necessary costs of operating a farm for profit are deductible business expenses. Part II of Schedule F lists expenses common to farming operations. This chapter discusses many of these expenses, as well as others not listed on Schedule F.

Reimbursed expenses. If you are reimbursed, either reduce the expense or report the amount you receive as income, depending on when you receive it. See Refund or reimbursement under Income From Other Sources in chapter 4.

Prepaid Farm Supplies

There may be a limit on your deduction for prepaid farm supplies if you use the cash method of accounting to report your income and expenses. This limit will not apply, however, if you meet one of the exceptions, described later.

Defined. Prepaid farm supplies are amounts you paid during the tax year for the following items.

1. Feed, seed, fertilizer, and similar farm supplies not used or consumed during the year.
2. Poultry (including egg-laying hens and baby chicks) bought for use (or for both use and resale) in your farm business that would be deductible in the following year if you had capitalized the cost and deducted it ratably (for example, monthly) over the lesser of 12 months or the useful life of the poultry.
3. Poultry bought for resale and not resold during the year.

Prepaid farm supplies do not include any amount paid for farm supplies on hand at the end of the tax year that you would have consumed if not for a fire, storm, flood, other casualty, disease, or drought.

Deduction limit. You can deduct an expense for prepaid farm supplies that does not exceed 50% of your other deductible farm expenses in the year of payment. You can deduct an expense for any excess prepaid farm supplies only for the tax year you use or consume the supplies.

The cost of poultry bought for use (or for both use and resale) in your farm business and not allowed in the year of payment is deductible in the following year. The cost of poultry bought for resale is deductible in the year you sell or otherwise dispose of that poultry.

Other deductible farm expenses. Other deductible farm expenses are any amounts allowable as deductions on Schedule F, including depreciation or amortization, but not prepaid farm supplies.

Example. During 2000, you bought fertilizer ($4,000), feed ($1,000), and seed ($500) for use on your farm in the following year. Your total prepaid farm supplies expense for 2000 is $5,500. Your other deductible farm expenses totaled $10,000 for 2000. Therefore, your deduction for prepaid farm supplies may not exceed $5,000 (50% of $10,000) for 2000. The excess prepaid farm supplies expense of $500 ($5,500 - $5,000) is deductible in the later tax year you use or consume the supplies.

Exceptions. This limit on the deduction for prepaid farm supplies expense does not apply if you are a farm-related taxpayer and either of the following apply.

1. Your prepaid farm supplies expense is more than 50% of your other deductible farm expenses because of a change in business operations caused by unusual circumstances.
2. Your total prepaid farm supplies expense for the preceding 3 tax years is less than 50% of your total other deductible farm expenses for those 3 tax years.

You are a farm-related taxpayer if any of the following tests apply.

1. Your main home is on a farm.
2. Your principal business is farming.
3. A member of your family meets (1) or (2).

For this purpose, your family includes your brothers and sisters, half-brothers and half-sisters, spouse, parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, and their children.

Whether or not the deduction limit for prepaid farm supplies applies, your expenses for prepaid livestock feed may be subject to the rules for advance payment of livestock feed, discussed next.

Livestock Feed

If you report your income and expenses under the cash method, you can deduct in the year paid the cost of feed your livestock consumed in that year. However, the cost of feed not consumed in that year is subject to the advance payment for feed rules, discussed next, and the limit on prepaid farm supplies, discussed earlier.

Advance payments for feed. If you meet all three of the following tests, you can deduct in the year of payment (subject to the limit on prepaid farm supplies) the cost of feed your livestock will consume in a later tax year. This rule does not apply to the purchase of commodity futures contracts.

1. The expense is a payment for the purchase of feed, not a deposit. Whether an expense is a deposit or payment depends on the facts and circumstances in each case. The expense is a payment if you can show you made it under a binding commitment to accept delivery of a specific quantity of feed at a fixed price and you are not entitled, under contract provision or business custom, to a refund or repurchase.

   The following are some factors that show an expense is a deposit rather than a payment.

   1. The absence of specific quantity terms.
   2. The right to a refund of any unapplied payment credit at the end of the contract.
   3. The treatment of the expense as a deposit by the seller.
   4. The right to substitute other goods or products for those specified in the contract.

   A provision permitting substitution of ingredients to vary the particular feed mix to meet current diet requirements of the livestock for which you bought the feed will not suggest a deposit. Further, adjustment to the contract price to reflect market value at the date of delivery is not, by itself, proof of a deposit.

2. The prepayment has a business purpose and is not merely for tax avoidance. You should have a reasonable expectation of receiving some business benefit from the prepayment. The following are some examples of business benefits.
   1. Fixing maximum prices and securing an assured feed supply.
   2. Securing preferential treatment in anticipation of a feed shortage.

   Whether the prepayment was a condition imposed by the seller and whether the condition was meaningful will also be considered in determining the existence of a business purpose for the prepayment.

3. The deduction of these costs does not result in a material distortion of your income. The following are some factors to consider in determining whether the deduction results in a material distortion of income.
   1. Your customary business practice in conducting your livestock operations.
   2. The expense in relation to past purchases.
   3. The time of year you made the purchase.
   4. The expense in relation to your income for the year.

If you fail any of these three tests, you cannot deduct in the year paid the cost of feed your livestock will consume in a later tax year. Deduct it in the tax years your livestock consume the feed.

Labor Hired

You can deduct reasonable wages paid for regular farm labor, piecework, contract labor, and other forms of labor hired to perform your farming operations. You can pay wages in cash or noncash items such as inventory items, capital assets, or assets used in your business. The cost of boarding farm labor is a deductible labor cost. Other deductible costs you incur for farm labor include health insurance, workers' compensation insurance, and other benefits.

If you must withhold social security, Medicare, and income taxes from your employees' cash wages, you can still deduct the full amount of wages before withholding. See chapter 16 for more information on employment taxes. Also, deduct the employer's share of the social security and Medicare taxes you must pay on your employees' wages as a farm business expense on the Taxes line of Schedule F (line 31). See Taxes, later.

Deductible Pay

The kinds of pay you can deduct include the fair market value of property you transfer to your employees and wages you pay to members of your family, as discussed below.

Property for services. If you transfer property to one of your employees in payment for services, you can deduct as wages paid the fair market value of the property on the date of transfer. If the employee pays you anything for the property, deduct as wages the fair market value of the property minus the payment by the employee for the property. Treat the deduction on your return as an amount received for the property. You may have a gain or loss to report if the property's adjusted basis on the date of transfer is different from its fair market value. Any gain or loss has the same character the exchanged property had in your hands. For more information, see chapter 10.

Child as an employee. You can deduct reasonable wages or other compensation you pay to your child for doing farm work if a true employer-employee relationship exists between you and your child. Include these wages in the child's income. The child may have to file an income tax return. These wages may also be subject to social security and Medicare taxes if your child is age 18 or older. For more information, see Family Employees in chapter 16.

The fact that your child spends the wages to buy clothes or other necessities you normally furnish does not prevent you from deducting your child's wages as a farm expense.

Spouse as an employee. You can deduct reasonable wages or other compensation you pay to your spouse if a true employer-employee relationship exists between you and your spouse. Wages you pay to your spouse are subject to social security and Medicare taxes. For more information, see Family Employees in chapter 16.

Nondeductible Pay

You cannot deduct wages paid for certain household work, construction work, and maintenance of your home. However, those wages may be subject to the employment taxes discussed in chapter 16.

Household workers. Do not deduct amounts paid to persons engaged in household work, except to the extent their services are used in boarding or otherwise caring for farm laborers.

Construction labor. Do not deduct wages paid to hired help for the construction of new buildings or other improvements. These wages are part of the cost of the building or other improvement. You must capitalize them.

Maintaining your home. If your farm employee spends time maintaining or repairing your home, the wages and employment taxes you pay for that work are nondeductible personal expenses. For example, assume you have a farm employee for the entire tax year and the employee spends 5% of the time maintaining your home. The employee devotes the remaining time to work on your farm. You cannot deduct 5% of the wages and employment taxes you pay for that employee.

Employment Credits

Reduce your deduction for wages by the amount of any employment credits you claim. The following are employment credits and their related forms.

• Empowerment zone employment credit (Form 8844).
• Indian employment credit (Form 8845).
• Welfare-to-work credit (Form 8861).
• Work opportunity credit (Form 5884).

For more information, see the forms and their instructions.

Personal and Business Expenses

Some expenses you pay during the tax year may be partly personal and partly business. These may include expenses for gasoline, oil, fuel, water, rent, electricity, telephone, automobile upkeep, repairs, insurance, interest, and taxes.

Allocation. Allocate these mixed expenses between their business and personal parts because the personal expenses are not deductible.

Example. You paid $1,500 for electricity during the tax year. You used one-third of the electricity for personal purposes and two-thirds for farming. Under these circumstances, you can deduct two-thirds of your electricity expense ($1,000) as a farm business expense.

Reasonable allocation. It is not always easy to determine the business and nonbusiness parts of an expense. There is no method of allocation that applies to all mixed expenses. Any reasonable allocation is acceptable. What is reasonable depends on the circumstances in each case.

Telephone expense. You cannot deduct the cost of basic local telephone service (including any taxes) for the first telephone line you have in your home, even though you have an office in your home. However, charges for business long-distance phone calls on that line, as well as the cost of a second line into your home used exclusively for your farm business, are deductible business expenses.

Tax preparation fees. You can deduct as a farm business expense on Schedule F the cost of preparing that part of your tax return relating to your farm business. You may be able to deduct the remaining cost on Schedule A (Form 1040) if you itemize your deductions.

You can also deduct on Schedule F the amount you pay or incur in resolving tax issues relating to your farm business.

Repairs and Maintenance

You can deduct most expenses for the repair and maintenance of your farm property. Common items of repair and maintenance are repainting, replacing shingles and supports on farm buildings, and minor overhauls of trucks, tractors, and other farm machinery. However, repairs to, or overhauls of, depreciable property that substantially prolong the life of the property, increase its value, or adapt it to a different use are capital expenses. For example, if you repair the barn roof, the cost is deductible. But if you replace the roof, it is a capital expense. For more information, see Capital Expenses, later.

Interest

You can deduct as a farm business expense interest paid on farm mortgages and other obligations you incur in your farm business.

Cash method. If you use the cash method of accounting, you can deduct interest paid during the year. You cannot deduct interest paid with funds received from the original lender through another loan, advance, or other arrangement similar to a loan. You can, however, deduct the interest when you start making payments on the new loan.

Prepaid interest. Under the cash method, you generally cannot deduct any interest paid before the year it is due. Interest paid in advance may be deducted only in the tax year in which it is due.

Accrual method. You can deduct only interest that has accrued during the tax year. However, you cannot deduct interest owed to a related person who uses the cash method until payment is made and the interest is includible in the gross income of that person. For more information, see chapter 5 in Publication 535.

Allocation of interest. If you use the proceeds of a loan for more than one purpose (for example, personal and business), allocate the interest on that loan to each use.

The easiest way to allocate interest is to keep the proceeds of a particular loan separate from any other funds.

You can treat a payment made from any account (or in cash) within 30 days before or after the debt proceeds are deposited (or received in cash) as being made from those debt proceeds.

You generally allocate interest on a loan the same way you allocate the loan. This is true even if the funds are paid directly to a third party. You allocate loans by tracing disbursements to specific uses. Use the following categories when allocating your interest expense.

• Trade or business interest.
• Passive activity interest.
• Investment interest.
• Personal interest.
• Portfolio interest.

Secured loan. The allocation of loan proceeds and the related interest is not generally affected by the use of property that secures the loan.

Example. You secure a loan with property used in your farming business. You use the loan proceeds to buy a car for personal use. You must allocate interest expense on the loan to personal use (purchase of the car) even though the loan is secured by farm business property.

If the property that secures the loan is your home, you generally do not allocate the loan proceeds or the related interest. The interest is usually deductible as qualified home mortgage interest, regardless of how the loan proceeds are used. For more information, see Publication 936.

Allocation period. The period for which a loan is allocated to a particular use begins on the date the proceeds are used and ends on the earlier of the following dates.

• The date the loan repaid.
• The date the loan is reallocated to another use.

More information. For more information on interest, see chapter 5 in Publication 535.

Loan expenses. You prorate and deduct loan expenses, such as legal fees and commissions, you pay to get a farm loan over the term of the loan.

Breeding Fees

You can deduct breeding fees as a farm business expense. However, if you must use an accrual method of accounting, you must capitalize breeding fees and allocate them to the cost basis of the calf, foal, etc. For more information on who must use an accrual method of accounting, see Accrual Method in chapter 3.

Fertilizer and Lime

You can deduct in the year paid or incurred the cost of fertilizer, lime, and other materials applied to farm land to enrich, neutralize, or condition it. You can also deduct the cost of applying these materials in the year you pay or incur it. However, see Prepaid Farm Supplies, earlier, for a rule that may limit your deduction for these materials.

If the benefits of the fertilizer, lime, or other materials last substantially more than one year, you generally must capitalize their cost and deduct a part each year the benefits last. However, you can choose to deduct these expenses in the year paid or incurred. If you make this choice, you can change the choice for that year only with IRS approval.

Farm land for the choice described in the preceding paragraph is land used for producing crops, fruits, or other agricultural products or for sustaining livestock. It does not include land you have never used previously for producing crops or sustaining livestock. You cannot deduct initial land preparation costs. (See Capital Expenses, later.)

Include government payments you receive for lime or fertilizer in income. See Fertilizer and Lime in chapter 4.

Taxes

You can deduct as a farm business expense the real estate and personal property taxes on farm business assets, such as farm equipment, animals, farm land, and farm buildings. You can also deduct the social security and Medicare taxes you pay to match the amount withheld from the wages of farm employees and any federal unemployment tax you pay. For information on employment taxes, see chapter 16.

The taxes on the part of your farm you use as your home (including the furnishings and surrounding land not used for farming) are nonbusiness taxes. You may be able to deduct these nonbusiness taxes as itemized deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040). To determine the nonbusiness part, prorate the taxes between the farm assets and nonbusiness assets. The proration can be done from the assessed valuations. If your tax statement does not show the assessed valuations, you can usually get them from the tax assessor.

State or local general sales taxes. State or local general sales taxes on nondepreciable farm business expense items are deductible as part of the cost of those items. Include state or local general sales taxes imposed on the purchase of assets for use in your farm business as part of the cost you depreciate. If the taxes are imposed on the seller and passed on to you, treat them as part of your cost.

State and federal income taxes. Individuals cannot deduct state and federal income taxes as farm business expenses. Individuals can deduct state income tax only as an itemized deduction on Schedule A (Form 1040). You cannot deduct federal income tax.

Highway use tax. You can deduct the federal use tax on highway motor vehicles paid on a truck or truck tractor used in your farm business. For information on the tax itself, including information on vehicles subject to the tax, see the instructions for Form 2290, Heavy Highway Vehicle Use Tax Return.

Self-employment tax deduction. You can deduct one-half of your self-employment tax in figuring your adjusted gross income on Form 1040. For more information, see chapter 15.

Insurance

You can generally deduct the ordinary and necessary cost of insurance for your farm business as a business expense. This includes premiums you pay for the following types of insurance.

1. Fire, storm, crop, theft, liability, and other insurance on farm business assets.
2. Health and accident insurance on your farm employees.
3. Workers' compensation insurance set by state law that covers any claims for bodily injuries or job-related diseases suffered by employees on your farm, regardless of fault.
4. Business interruption insurance.
5. State unemployment insurance on your farm employees (deductible as taxes if they are considered taxes under state law).

Advance premiums. If you pay insurance premiums in advance, deduct each year only the premium that applies to that tax year. Deduct the balance in each later year to which it applies.

This treatment of advance premiums applies whether you use the cash or accrual method of accounting.

Example. On June 28, 2000, you paid a premium of $3,000 for fire insurance on your barn. The policy will cover a period of 3 years beginning on July 1, 2000. Only the cost for the 6 months in 2000 is deductible as an insurance expense on your 2000 calendar year tax return. Deduct $500, which is the premium for 6 months of the 36-month premium period, or 6/36 of $3,000. In both 2001 and the year 2002, deduct $1,000 ( 12/36 of $3,000). Deduct the remaining $500 in 2003. Had the policy been effective on January 1, 2001, the deductible expense would have been $1,000 for each of the years 2000, 2001, and 2002, based on one-third of the premium used each year.

Business interruption insurance. Use and occupancy and business interruption insurance premiums are deductible as a business expense. This insurance pays for lost profits if your business is shut down due to a fire or other cause. Report any proceeds in full on Schedule F.

Self-employed health insurance deduction. If you are self-employed, you can deduct, in figuring your adjusted gross income on your 2000 Form 1040, 60% of your payments for health insurance coverage for yourself, your spouse, and your dependents. Generally, this deduction cannot be more than the net profit from the business under which the plan was established.

If you or your spouse is also an employee of another person, you cannot take the deduction for any month in which you are eligible to participate in a subsidized health plan maintained by your employer or your spouse's employer.

Use the Self-Employed Health Insurance Deduction Worksheet in the Form 1040 instructions to figure your deduction. Include the remaining part of the insurance payment in your medical expenses on Schedule A (Form 1040) if you itemize your deductions.

For more information, see Deductible Premiums in chapter 7 of Publication 535.

Rent and Leasing

If you lease property for use in your business, you can generally deduct the rent you pay.

Rent

You can deduct on Schedule F rent you pay in cash. However, you cannot deduct rent you pay in crop shares because you deduct the cost of raising the crops as farm expenses.

Advance payments. Deduct advance payments of rent only in the year to which they apply, regardless of your accounting method.

Farm home. If you rent a farm, do not deduct the part of the rental expense that represents the fair rental value of the farm home in which you live.

Lease or Purchase

If you lease a farm building or equipment rather than buy it, you must determine whether or not the agreement can be treated as a lease for tax purposes. Some leases must be treated as conditional sales contracts for tax purposes. If the agreement is treated as a lease for tax purposes, you can deduct rental payments for the use of the property in your trade or business. If the agreement is treated as a conditional sales contract, the payments under the agreement (so far as they do not represent interest or other charges) are payments for the purchase of the property. Do not deduct these payments as rent, but capitalize the cost of the property and recover this cost through depreciation.

Example. You lease new farm equipment from a dealer who both sells and leases. The lease payments and the specified option price equal the sales price plus interest. Under the lease, you are responsible for maintenance, repairs, and the risk of loss. For federal income tax purposes, the lease is a sale of the equipment and you cannot deduct any of the lease costs as rent. You can deduct interest, repairs, insurance, depreciation, and other business expenses.

Conditional sales contract. Whether an agreement is a conditional sales contract depends on the intent of the parties. Determine intent based on the provisions of the agreement and the facts and circumstances that exist when you make the agreement. No single test, or special combination of tests, always applies. However, in general, an agreement may be considered a conditional sales contract rather than a lease if any of the following is true.

1. The agreement applies part of each payment toward an equity interest you will receive.
2. You get title to the property after you make a stated amount of required payments.
3. The amount you must pay to use the property for a short time is a large part of the amount you would pay to get title to the property.
4. You pay much more than the current fair rental value of the property.
5. You have an option to buy the property at a nominal price compared to the value of the property when you may exercise the option. Determine this value when you make the agreement.
6. You have an option to buy the property at a nominal price compared to the total amount you have to pay under the agreement.
7. The agreement designates part of the payments as interest, or that part is easy to recognize as interest.

Leveraged leases. Special rules apply to leveraged leases of equipment (property financed by a nonrecourse loan from a third party). For more information, see chapter 4 of Publication 535 and the following revenue procedures.

1. 75-21 in Cumulative Bulletin 1975-1.
2. 75-28 in Cumulative Bulletin 1975-1.
3. 76-30 in Cumulative Bulletin 1976-2.
4. 79-48 in Cumulative Bulletin 1979-2.

Motor vehicle leases. Special rules apply to lease agreements that have a terminal rental adjustment clause. The clause will generally provide for a rental adjustment based upon the amount the lessor is able to sell the vehicle for at the end of the lease. If your rental agreement contains a terminal rental adjustment clause, treat the agreement as a lease if the agreement otherwise qualifies as a lease. For more information, see section 7701(h) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Depreciation

If property you acquire to use in your farm business is expected to last more than one year, you generally cannot deduct the entire cost in the year you acquire it. You must spread the cost over more than one year and deduct part of it each year on Schedule F. For most property, this deduction is depreciation. However, you may be able to deduct part or all of the cost of this property as a business expense in the year you place it in service. This is the section 179 deduction.

Depreciation and the section 179 deduction are discussed in chapter 8.

Business Use of Your Home

You can deduct expenses for the business use of your home if you use part of your home exclusively and regularly:

1. As the principal place of business for any trade or business in which you engage,
2. As a place to meet or deal with patients, clients, or customers in the normal course of your trade or business, or
3. In connection with your trade or business, if you are using a separate structure that is not attached to your home.

Your home office will qualify as your principal place of business for deducting expenses for its use if you meet the following requirements.

1. You use it exclusively and regularly for the administrative or management activities of your trade or business.
2. You have no other fixed location where you conduct substantial administrative or management activities of your trade or business.

If you use part of your home for business, you must divide the expenses of operating your home between personal and business use. For more information, see Publication 587.

Deduction limit. If your gross income from farming equals or exceeds your total farm expenses (including expenses for the business use of your home) you can deduct all your farm expenses. But if your gross income from farming is less than your total farm expenses, your deduction for certain expenses for the business use of your home is limited.

Your deduction for otherwise nondeductible expenses, such as utilities, insurance, and depreciation (with depreciation taken last), cannot be more than the gross income from farming minus:

1. The business part of expenses you could deduct even if you did not use your home for business (such as deductible mortgage interest, real estate taxes, and casualty and theft losses), and
2. The business expenses that relate to the business activity in the home (for example, salaries or supplies), but not to the use of the home itself.

If you are self-employed, do not include in (2) above your deduction for half of your self-employment tax.

You can carry over to your next tax year deductions over the current year's limit. They are subject to the deduction limit for the next tax year.

See Publication 587 for information on how to figure this limit and where to deduct the expenses on your return.

Truck and Car Expenses

You can deduct the actual cost of operating a truck or car in your farm business. Only the expenses for business use are deductible. These include such items as gasoline, oil, repairs, license tags, insurance, and depreciation (subject to certain limits).

Instead of using actual costs, under certain conditions you can use the standard mileage rate. For 2000, the rate is 32 1/2 cents a mile for all business miles driven. You can use the standard mileage rate for a car or a light truck, such as a van, pickup, or panel truck, you own or lease. You cannot use the standard mileage rate if you operate two or more cars or light trucks at the same time. You are not using two or more vehicles at the same time if you alternate using (use at different times) the vehicles for business.

Example. Maureen owns a car and a pickup truck that are both used in her farm business. Her farm employees use the truck and she uses the car for business. Maureen cannot use the standard mileage rate for the car or the truck. This is because both vehicles are used in Maureen's farm business at the same time. She must use actual expenses for both vehicles.

Business use percentage. You can claim 75% of the use of a car or light truck as business use without any records if you used the vehicle during most of the normal business day directly in connection with the business of farming. The following are uses directly connected with the business of farming.

• Cultivating land.
• Raising or harvesting any agricultural or horticultural commodity.
• Raising, feeding, caring for, training, and managing animals.
• Driving to the feed or supply store.

If you keep records and they show that your business use was more than 75%, you may be able to claim more. See Recordkeeping requirements, later.

More information. For more information, see chapter 4 of Publication 463. If you pay your employees for the use of their truck or car in your farm business, see Reimbursements to employees under Travel Expenses, next.

Travel Expenses

You can deduct ordinary and necessary expenses you incur while traveling away from home for your farm business. You cannot deduct lavish or extravagant expenses. Usually, the location of your farm business is considered your home for tax purposes. You are traveling away from home if:

1. Your duties require you to be absent from your farm substantially longer than an ordinary work day, and
2. You need to get sleep or rest to meet the demands of your work while away from home.

If you meet these requirements and can prove the time, place, and business purpose of your travel, you can deduct your ordinary and necessary expenses for travel, meals, and lodging. You can ordinarily deduct only 50% of your business-related meal expenses.

The following are some types of deductible travel expenses.

1. Air, rail, bus, and car transportation.
2. Meals and lodging.
3. Dry cleaning and laundry.
4. Telephone and fax.
5. Transportation between your hotel and your temporary work or business meeting location.
6. Tips for any of the above expenses.

Meals. You can deduct 50% of the cost of meals only if your business trip is overnight or long enough to require you to stop for sleep or rest to properly perform your duties. You cannot deduct any of the cost of meals if it is not necessary for you to rest, unless you meet the rules for business entertainment. For information on entertainment expenses, see chapter 2 of Publication 463.

The expense of a meal includes amounts you spend for your food, beverages, taxes, and tips relating to the meal. You can deduct either the actual cost or a standard meal allowance that covers your daily meal and incidental expenses.

Recordkeeping requirements. You must be able to prove your deductions for travel by adequate records or other evidence that will support your own statement. Estimates or approximations do not qualify as proof of an expense.

If you choose to deduct a standard meal allowance rather than the actual expense, you do not have to keep records to prove amounts spent for meals and incidental items. However, you must still keep records to prove the actual amount of other travel expenses, and the time, place, and business purpose of your travel.

More information. For detailed information on travel, recordkeeping, and the standard meal allowance, see Publication 463.

Reimbursements to employees. You can generally deduct reimbursements you pay to your employees for travel and transportation expenses they incur in the conduct of your business. If you reimburse these expenses under an accountable plan, deduct them as travel and transportation expenses. If you reimburse these expenses under a nonaccountable plan, you must report the reimbursements as wages on Form W-2 and deduct them as wages. For more information, see chapter 13 of Publication 535.

Marketing Quota Penalties

You can deduct as Other expenses on Schedule F penalties you pay for marketing crops in excess of farm marketing quotas. However, if you do not pay the penalty, but instead the purchaser of your crop deducts it from the payment to you, include in gross income only the amount you received. Do not take a separate deduction for the penalty.

Tenant House Expenses

You can deduct the costs of maintaining houses and their furnishings for tenants or hired help as farm business expenses. These costs include repairs, heat, light, insurance, and depreciation.

The value of a dwelling you furnish to a tenant under the usual tenant-farmer arrangement is not taxable income to the tenant.

Items Purchased for Resale

If you use the cash method of accounting, you can deduct the cost of livestock and other items purchased for resale in Part I of Schedule F in the year of sale. This cost includes freight charges for transporting the livestock to the farm. Ordinarily, this is the only time you can deduct the purchase price. However, see Cost of chickens, seeds, and young plants-cash method, later.

Example. You report on the cash method. In 2000, you buy 50 steers you will sell in 2001. You will report the sales price minus the purchase price (and any freight cost) as income in Part I of your 2001 Schedule F.

Cost of chickens, seeds, and young plants-cash method. If you are a cash method farmer, you can deduct the cost of hens and baby chicks bought for commercial egg production, or for raising and resale, as an expense in the year you pay the costs if you do it consistently and it does not distort income. You can deduct the purchase price of seeds and young plants bought for further development and cultivation before sale as an expense when paid if you do this consistently and you do not figure your income on the crop method. However, see Prepaid Farm Supplies, earlier, for a rule that may limit your deduction for these items.

If you deduct the purchase price of chickens and young plants as an expense, report their entire selling price as income. You cannot also deduct the purchase price from the selling price.

You cannot deduct the purchase price of seeds and young plants for Christmas trees and timber as an expense. Deduct the cost of these seeds and plants through depletion allowances. For more information, see Depletion in chapter 8.

The purchase price of chickens and plants used as food for your family is never deductible.

Capitalize the cost of plants with a preproductive period of more than 2 years, unless you can elect out of the uniform capitalization rules. These rules are discussed in chapter 7.

Example. You use the cash method of accounting. In 2000, you buy 500 baby chicks to raise for resale in 2001. You also buy 50 bushels of winter seed wheat in 2000 that you sow in the fall. You can deduct the cost of both the baby chicks and the seed wheat in 2000, unless you previously adopted the method of deducting these costs in the year you sell the chickens or the harvested crops.

Delaying deduction-crop method. You can delay deducting the purchase price of seeds and young plants until you sell them if you get IRS approval. If you follow this method, deduct the purchase price from the selling price to determine your profit. Do this in Part I of Schedule F. For more information, see Crop method under Special Methods of Accounting in chapter 3.

Choosing the method. You can adopt either of these methods for deducting the purchase price in the first year you buy egg-laying hens, pullets, chicks, or seeds and young plants. If you choose the crop method, however, you need IRS approval.

Although you must use the same method for egg-laying hens, pullets, and chicks, you can use a different method for seeds and young plants. Once you use a particular method for any of these items, use it for those items until you get IRS approval to change your method. For more information, see Change in Accounting Method in chapter 3.

Other Expenses

The following list, while not all-inclusive, shows some expenses you can deduct as other farm expenses in Part II of Schedule F. These expenses must be for business purposes and (1) paid, if you use the cash method of accounting, or (2) incurred, if you use an accrual method of accounting.

• Accounting fees.
• Advertising.
• Chemicals.
• Custom hire (machine work).
• Educational expenses (to maintain and improve farming skills).
• Farm-related attorney fees.
• Farm fuels and oil.
• Farm magazines.
• Freight and trucking.
• Ginning.
• Insect sprays and dusts.
• Litter and bedding.
• Livestock fees.
• Recordkeeping expenses.
• Service charges.
• Small tools expected to last one year or less.
• Stamps and stationery.
• Storage and warehousing.
• Subscriptions to professional, technical, and trade journals that deal with farming.
• Tying material and containers.
• Veterinary fees and medicine.

Previous| First | Next

Publication Index | IRS-Forms Main | Home