Iowa Beginning Farmer Tax Credit

The Agricultural Assets Transfer Tax Credit is commonly referred to as the Beginning Farmer Tax Credit. The program is administered by the Iowa Agricultural Development Authority and began with the 2007 tax year. The Beginning Farmer Tax Credit Program was enacted by the Iowa legislature as an incentive to keep land in production agriculture, by allowing agricultural asset owners to earn tax credit for leasing their land to beginning farmers. The program includes tax credit for the leasing of agricultural land, depreciable machinery or equipment, breeding livestock, and buildings.

Important Adjustments to the Beginning Farmer Tax Credit Program
Effective January 1, 2013!

Maximum Net Worth will INCREASE from $343,000 to $366,324
Application fee for crop share and flex lease applications will be increased to $200 for the application and $100 for each year of the lease to be collected at time of application
- Example: If you are submitting an application with a 5 year lease your fee to enter the program will be: $200 (Application fee) + $500 ($100 x 5 years of servicing) = $700
Application fee for cash rent applications will remain unchanged at $200 for the application and $50 for each year of the lease to be collected at time of application
- Example: If you are submitting an application with a 5 year lease your fee to enter the program will be: $200 (Application fee) + $250 ($50 x 5 years of servicing) = $450
On all crop share and flex agreements all acres will be allocated with 50% to corn and 50% to soybeans, unless other crop acres are specifically identified in the lease for other crops – lease will be the number of acres consistently used for the entire term of this tax credit project.
All tax credit calculations will be completed with the respective county’s historical average T-yield data and the price will be the previous year’s RMA fall price

BFTC (Beginning Farmer Tax Credit) Application
Deadline: 1st of the Month
(To go to the board meeting for that month; Must have in no later than September 1st to be eligible to receive a credit for that year)

*Make sure both the Beginning Farmer Application and the Asset Owner Application are completely filled out before submitting in order to prevent potential delays.

BFTC (Tax Credit) Program Summary
The Program Summary will be able to answer almost any question you have about the Beginning Farmer Tax Credit Program.

Tax Credit Request to Adjust Lease Terms
If for any reason during the life of the project you need to change the lease terms, this form will need to be completed and returned to our office with the $100 processing fee.

Please direct Beginning Farmer Tax Credit questions to:

Denise Ashley
Administrative Assistant
(515)281-6444
denise.ashley@iowa.gov