USDA's RMA funds farmers'/ranchers' rural tax education

USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) announces the availability of a newly created website titled: Rural Tax Education (ruraltax.org) providing farmers and ranchers a resource for agricultural related income and self-employment tax information that is both up-to-date and easy to understand.

“Farmers and ranchers wanting up-to-date tax information will want to put the Rural Tax Education website in their list of browser favorites,” said Dave Paul, Director of RMA’s Spokane Regional Office serving Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington states.

The RMA-funded project was a collaborative effort of 15 land grant universities across the nation and hosted by Utah State University. The home page offers a hot topic and announced upcoming informational webinars (Income Tax Management for Producers in 2011 Tuesday, December 6, 9 a.m. (Eastern Time). There is no charge for the webinars, and written material will also be available before the online training.

The website recently added a “Tax Guide for Owners and Operators of Small and Medium Size Farms” and offers several fact sheets and samples, including Tax Topics; Depreciation and Expensing; Farm, Farming and Who’s a Farmer for Tax Purposes; Sample Tax Return; and Small Farm Tax Guide.

Other universities taking part in the project include Colorado State University, Iowa State University, Ohio State University, Purdue University, North Carolina State University, Oklahoma State University, University of Arizona, University of Georgia, University of Kentucky, University of Vermont, University of Illinois, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Virginia Polytechnic Institute.

The Risk Management Education and Outreach programs are designed to help ensure that farmers and ranchers effectively manage their risk through difficult periods, helping to maintain America’s robust food supply and the survival of small, limited-resource, socially disadvantaged and other traditionally under-served farmers. RMA administers these partnership projects as well as the Federal crop insurance program.

RMA’s mission is to promote, support and regulate sound risk management solutions to preserve and strengthen the economic stability of America's agricultural producers. Federal crop insurance provides support to American producers as part of the “farm safety net.” A strong farm safety net is important to the vitality of American agriculture. Complete listings of the agreements can be found on the RMA Web site at: http://www.rma.usda.gov/aboutrma/agreements/.