 |
Win $250.00 in our Free Competition |
 80,000+ satisfied clients in over 130 countries 20,000+ ostrich products available80,000+ subscribers to our newsletterTel USA +1 708 345 7989 Tel UK +44 845 680 9018 |
Free Shipping Extra Discounts Buyers Club |
||
 |
USA Farm Taxes
Agriculture News August 1994 - Cornell Cooperative Extension
"Agricultural Economics"
by John R. Brake, Department of Agricultural, Resource and managerial economics, New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell
Few topics do more to stir farmer reaction than taxes on their farm property. Yet, in most states the property tax is the main source of revenue for local governments, and typically, for schools as well.
As an ad valorem tax, the real property tax is expected to be proportional to property value. Two important property tax issues have to do with fairness -- fairness or equity of the property tax as a means of supporting local communities and fairness of the tax from one property owner to another.
A recent USDA publication speaks to this latter issue, fairness from one property owner to another, by examining effective rates of real property tax on farmland owners with different characteristics.
The 1988 Agricultural Economics and Land Ownership Survey examined both the taxes paid per $100 of value of farmland and buildings and the tax rate per acre.
One conclusion of the study was that owners of large value holdings paid a lower effective rate of taxation than owners of low valued holdings. Owners of farmland holdings of $5 million or more paid an average of $.47 per $100 of value while owners of farmland holdings of less than $70,000 paid an average of $1.45 per $100 of value.
Similarly, taxes paid per acre tended to be inversely related to value of holdings; the under $70,000 class paid almost $8 per acre and the over $5 million class paid $4.33 per acre.
Taxes on holdings between the two extremes tended to show the same regressive pattern. However, when individual states were examined, nine states were either neutral or progressive while the others were moderately to steeply regressive.
There was, of course, considerable variation in the property tax rates on farmland among states. Wisconsin and Michigan had the highest property tax rates per $100 of value at $2.20 and $2.14, respectively. Hawaii and Alabama shared the lowest tax rate per $100 at $.38 per $100 of value.
New York was highest among New England and Middle Atlantic states with a $1.64 tax rate per $100 of value, about double the U.S. rate of $.84 per $100.Other states in the region were within range from $.39 in Connecticut to $1.14 in Vermont.
A second finding of the study was that non-operator owners of farmland paid a higher rate of taxes per $100 of market value than did operator owners. Operator owners of farmland held 62 percent of land value and paid 58 percent of the property taxes on agricultural land. Non-operator owners held 38 percent of the land value and paid 42 percent of the property taxes.
For the U.S. as a whole, non-operator owners paid a tax rate of $.92 per $100 of value while owner operators paid a tax rate of $.79 per $100 of value. Also, whether the residence of the owner is on the farm affected the taxes paid for both operators and non-operators. Those with residences on the farm paid more per $100 of value and per acre.
Source: USDA - Cornell Cooperative Extension, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Provider: Ag Information Services -- News & Publications, Penn State, July 24, 1994 Document Number: 28302739
Agriculture News August 1994 - Cornell Cooperative Extension
"Agricultural Economics"
by John R. Brake, Department of Agricultural, Resource and managerial economics, New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell
Few topics do more to stir farmer reaction than taxes on their farm property. Yet, in most states the property tax is the main source of revenue for local governments, and typically, for schools as well.
As an ad valorem tax, the real property tax is expected to be proportional to property value. Two important property tax issues have to do with fairness -- fairness or equity of the property tax as a means of supporting local communities and fairness of the tax from one property owner to another.
A recent USDA publication speaks to this latter issue, fairness from one property owner to another, by examining effective rates of real property tax on farmland owners with different characteristics.
The 1988 Agricultural Economics and Land Ownership Survey examined both the taxes paid per $100 of value of farmland and buildings and the tax rate per acre.
One conclusion of the study was that owners of large value holdings paid a lower effective rate of taxation than owners of low valued holdings. Owners of farmland holdings of $5 million or more paid an average of $.47 per $100 of value while owners of farmland holdings of less than $70,000 paid an average of $1.45 per $100 of value.
Similarly, taxes paid per acre tended to be inversely related to value of holdings; the under $70,000 class paid almost $8 per acre and the over $5 million class paid $4.33 per acre.
Taxes on holdings between the two extremes tended to show the same regressive pattern. However, when individual states were examined, nine states were either neutral or progressive while the others were moderately to steeply regressive.
There was, of course, considerable variation in the property tax rates on farmland among states. Wisconsin and Michigan had the highest property tax rates per $100 of value at $2.20 and $2.14, respectively. Hawaii and Alabama shared the lowest tax rate per $100 at $.38 per $100 of value.
New York was highest among New England and Middle Atlantic states with a $1.64 tax rate per $100 of value, about double the U.S. rate of $.84 per $100.Other states in the region were within range from $.39 in Connecticut to $1.14 in Vermont.
A second finding of the study was that non-operator owners of farmland paid a higher rate of taxes per $100 of market value than did operator owners. Operator owners of farmland held 62 percent of land value and paid 58 percent of the property taxes on agricultural land. Non-operator owners held 38 percent of the land value and paid 42 percent of the property taxes.
For the U.S. as a whole, non-operator owners paid a tax rate of $.92 per $100 of value while owner operators paid a tax rate of $.79 per $100 of value. Also, whether the residence of the owner is on the farm affected the taxes paid for both operators and non-operators. Those with residences on the farm paid more per $100 of value and per acre.
Source: USDA - Cornell Cooperative Extension, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Provider: Ag Information Services -- News & Publications, Penn State, July 24, 1994 Document Number: 28302739