Re: Farm and Ranch proprietor income

Greg & Lei Gunthorp (hey4hogs@kuntrynet.com)
Mon, 1 Feb 1999 12:48:41 -0500

Isn't it just the cost of inputs that we are supposed to account for on
food used for personal use. For example on our operation if we ate one of
our pigs that pigs portion of the feed, fuel, fence, repairs, interest,
etc(everything in the value of the pig that went on the Schedule F--our own
labor is not a schedule F expense) is what should be used as a value. I
think the IRS is trying to say that we can not claim food expenses as farm
expenses(directly purchased from the grocery store or the expenses of
growing our own). Of course I'm not a lawyer or accountant and could be
way off on my interpretation.

However, I do doubt that very many account in any manner whatsoever on
their taxes for the expenses (claimed on schedule F) that were used in
their families food production.
Best wishes,
Greg
Gunthorp's Pasture-ized Pork
LaGrange, Indiana
visit our farm at www.grassfarmer.com

----------
> From: BILL DUESING <71042.2023@compuserve.com>
> To: INTERNET:Sprinkraft@aol.com; SANET-mg <sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu>
> Subject: Farm and Ranch proprietor income
> Date: Monday, February 01, 1999 11:04 AM
>
> Steve wrote:
>
> 3. Truth be told that the IRS wants us to claim as income all the food we
> consume. Since one of the key motives for the small farm, organic and
self
> sustaining lifestyle is to grow and eat your own food, this is a serious
> intrusion into our private affairs. As a corrolary, when one of us has
> replaced a window pane, did you count as income those fees you didn't
have
> to
> pay to a professional glazier? When I change out the belts, filters and
> spark
> plugs on a machine, am I now saving 12 dollars an hour, which I should
> count
> as income? Of course, if it is an Izusu dealer, now you are "making"
> $40.00/hr.
>
> And are those food costs at retail? Boy, am I rich. Organic eggs at
> $2.79/dozen? Cilantro at $1.29 a bunch? Potatoes at .89 cents/lb ? Apples
> at
> $1.89/lb? Please don't tell the gubment people I eat that good.
>
>
> I ask:
>
> Is this true? Is it commonly done? Steve raises very good questions? Do
we
> account differently for eating the tomatoes that come back from market
too
> soft to sell, versus those that we pick especially to slice for lunch?
> What about the labor to pick them? Where does the garden stop and the
farm
> begin? An accountant to sort it all out, of course, would be deductable.

>
> In general, the fuller the accounting, the better for encouraging
> sustainability. Is that the case here? I bet that there is a correlation
> between farms with less food eaten on the farm and less sustainable
farms.
> We sure could get into some very interesting issues.
>
> What do others (especially ag economists) think?
>
> Bill Duesing
>
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