Is 15 acres tillable enough to qualify for farm tax exemption in Illinois? What would one have to do certified the acres with the county that you live in? Thanks Howard
 
Each state is a little different. I did go to the local USDA FSA office and received a letter declaring that I was "Actively Engaged In Farming". If you can get something like that it will keep you from being identified as a "Hobby Farmer".
 
Counties are actually different in Iowa.

You can always file a schedule F, regardless of size, but they DO expect it is a for profit enterprise.
 
I dont know about Illinois but here (Wisconsin) as best I understand it they really just want to see that you are farming for a business not a hobby, you are supposed to show a profit every 3 years. Now obviously this is a schedule F not land taxes.
-Garrett
 
Here in western Colorado,as long as it has a produceing/harvested crop on it,it qualifies as farm ground. And has a tax base as per 'AG'.Unused/vacant ground 'enjoys' a much higher tax bracket.It takes 3 years of farming/raiseing/harvesting a crop to regain 'AG' status. Yes,you can loose youe AG tax if your ground is not actively farmed. It can simply be grass hay that is cut once a year,or pasture for cattle(horses dont count) to get AG status.Your Schedule F will determine it you are a 'hobby' farm,or a 'busness'(money makeing) farm.See your professional tax accountant.
 
I live in Il. Don't need to do anything. Just keep records of expenses and income. You can take your pickup and equipment off also and deprecate them also. Can take off on horses too if they are held for sale. And you sell one every once in a while. But you should go to a CPA that handles other farms. They will make you money.
 
I think he means for property tax exemption. Contact your local assessors office. Honestly most the replies you get here will be useless, as you can see most of the replies don't even apply to your state. Let alone specific county.
 
Agreed, that is handled here by county, they do not grant Ag status to people with a few horses or animals.
 
Just go over and visit the local tax assessor with a couple cups of coffee and some donuts and ask this question. Farmland assessment regulations usually start at the state level and are administered by the counties and local governments.
 
In our town and possibly all of New York state you have to bring in at least $10,000 per year to qualify for farm status for property taxes.
 
I live in Rock Island County, Ill. Go to the local Farm Service Agency and see if the parcel is on their listings, if so you will have a farm number and if you follow their guidelines, it should qualify as farm land. If they don't have it listed, they can give you an idea what you can do. Next step would be the county recorders office and talk to them. In 1986 I bought 1/2 of an 80(40acres) with 9.8 tillable acres. Since it was originally part of a larger parcel, they gave it a farm number and I was able to qualify for all pertaining farm programs. Chris
 
Depends what you plan on doing with the 15 acres, Homestead or Farmstead? Your local Assessors Office can answer your questions.
 
The 15 acres are currently cash rented now but if I buy it I'll farm it myself just be nice to get tax brake on repair parts for my older farm equipment thanks Howard
 
(quoted from post at 19:09:36 07/28/20) The 15 acres are currently cash rented now but if I buy it I'll farm it myself just be nice to get tax brake on repair parts for my older farm equipment thanks Howard

A little more information is great. As others have said you can file Schedule F with your 1040 but you need to show a profit every 3 to 5 years. Once again, get a CPA to at least help you get started.

If you never make a profit and are classified as a Hobby Farm (that is an IRS designation) you can still deduct costs but only to the point you have no profit left. It's pretty easy to use up all your profit in costs on a small operation.
 

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