SHEEP FARMING: The search for a niche.

[norseofcourse]

You braught up an interesting point that I was also pondering. Since TOR's Australian tax code is quite different in some respects ( ? ) to the US one , I called the IRS to ask. A IRS Auditor just returned my call. So , here it is the current official word ! The code states that an animal or produce that you raise and then consume yourself and family only, you just remove it from your inventory and you DO NOT DEDUCT ANY EXPENSES FOR IT'S PRODUCTION OR ADD IT'S VALUE TO YOUR INCOME. Same goes for a hobby farm. So Norse, sorry but you overpaid on your farm income taxes. That is if the price difference put you into a higher tax bracket.

It didn't put me in a higher bracket, so I didn't overpay.

For me, it's much easier to add the value of the animal kept for my own use, than to try and deduct the fraction that animal cost in each of the expense categories I track. It also bumps up my 'gross farm income', which is a factor in my area for qualifying for 'farm' property tax rates, since I don't have the minimum required acreage.

 

[Bossroo]

It didn't put me in a higher bracket, so I didn't overpay.

For me, it's much easier to add the value of the animal kept for my own use, than to try and deduct the fraction that animal cost in each of the expense categories I track. It also bumps up my 'gross farm income', which is a factor in my area for qualifying for 'farm' property tax rates, since I don't have the minimum required acreage.

The " bump" is what is known as creative accounting and will eventually catch up with the tax payer by creating a red flag on the IRS computer with guidelines preset for anomolies and then the tax payer will receive an invitation for a tax audit. Could become costly one day.