Book review: Timber Tax Management for Family Forest Owners

By Mike Reichenbach, University of Minnesota Extension Forester

Timber Tax Management for Family Forest Owners
2009 Edition for Filing 2008 Tax Returns
William L. Hoover and Mark Koontz

Timber Tax Management for Family Forest Owners is written for woodland owners and tax professionals.  It provides more than a description of how to file after you have a timber sale.  It provides an overview of the tax code that pertains to timber sales and the operation of a woodland as a business.  It covers acquisitions, how to structure the acquisition, record keeping, reforestation expenses, management and operating expenses, timber sales, casualty losses, land sales, and exchanges.  The conclusion is an in-depth treatment of Form T.  The book will help landowners answer questions about the legal and financial aspects of ownership.

Landowners and those who are likely to purchase or inherit woodland should read this book.  It provides a step by step decision process for operation of the land as a business.  The authors state on page 27 that one of the differences between a personal use activity and a business is, “The willingness of an owner to undertake an activity for profit.  Owners not willing to do the record keeping should treat their activity as a personal use activity.”  This clear statement and others throughout the book will help landowners, accountants and other tax professionals make decisions regarding the operation of their forestland.

The book is self published and is available in a 3 ring binder format.  It may be ordered through http://www.timbertaxadvice.com/

National Timber Tax webinar rescheduled for March 13

An upcoming web-based presentation (webinar) may be of interest to some MyMinnesotaWoods readers.  This one is rescheduled for Friday, March 13, 2009 at 11am Central.  The presentation is by Linda Wang of the US Forest Service.

This tax session highlights key timber tax issues faced by private landowners in time for the 2009 filing season. It is intended to provide a snapshot and basic understanding of the timber tax matters in a concise manner for forest and natural resource agency staff, directors, extension agents and program leaders, and foresters.

Click here for complete event details, including how to connect. The event is free and pre-registration is not required.  Note:  At the time of this writing, that link does not reflect the new date. The actual rescheduled date is Friday, March 13, 2009 at 11am Central.

Timber Tax Update, Part 1: Linda Wang

This special one-hour tax program is one in a two-part program that provides an update on timber tax to assist landowners and foresters in the 2009 filing season.  It will discuss timber tax law and rules on reporting income and expenses and proposed new regulations by the IRS.

The program will run from 11:00am to noon Central.  For details or to register, visit http://forestrywebinar.net.   A flyer is at http://www.myminnesotawoods.umn.edu/docs/TaxWebinarPartI.pdf.

The presenter, Linda Wang, is Forest Taxation Specialist, State and Private Forestry, USDA Forest Service.  Linda is a national leader on timber tax issues.

This program will be online.  To access it, you will need a high-speed internet connection.

2008 landowner income tax tips

The United States Forest Service – Cooperative Forestry unit has released a 2-page document called Tax Tips for Forest Landowners for the 2008 Tax Year by Linda Wang, Forest Taxation Specialist and John L. Greene, Research Forester, Southern Research Station.

Download the full 2008 Tax Tips document here.

From the introduction: This bulletin summarizes key federal income tax provisions for forestland owners, foresters, loggers, forest product businesses, and tax practitioners. It is current as of October 1, 2008, and supersedes Management Bulletin R8-MB 130. Consult your tax and legal professionals for advice on your particular tax situation.

Be sure to check out numerous other resources from Cooperative Forestry’s Forest Taxation website.