I wish we could move....

[Bruce]

That's interesting. We also have no state income tax, or sales tax. So property taxes are really high. No agriculture specific tax rate but we have "current use" which is undeveloped land used either for agriculture or left as "wild" land. However we can not build anything on land in current use. No barn, nothing. Except fencing is OK. So from what understand we need to carve an acre off for the house and barn (we don't have a barn yet, but if we build one) and the rest can be fenced in for animals. Kind of a pain.

Our "current use" requires the land be used for agriculture or forestry. No break for leaving land wild for the benefit of the animals. And, as I said before, we need a minimum of 27 acres since the minimum is 25 and you must have 2 for the house.

 

[misfitmorgan]

We have income taxes, sales taxes, and property taxes in Ohio.

In my county (and it may the be the same or similar for other counties in Ohio), the agricultural exemption is called CAUV, and there's two ways to get it. First way is to have 10 acres or more in agricultural use (no animal ratio I'm aware of), and they deduct 1 acre for the house, so you'd have to own at least 11 acres. The second way, if you don't have enough acreage, is to make at least $2500 per year gross from agricultural income, which is what I'm going for. This would include income from my lamb and fleece, as well as any income that would be considered 'farm' - seedlings, plants, vegetables or fruits, etc. Income from boarding horses or other livestock would count, too, although I don't plan on doing that.

Stuff that I buy for the production of agricultural stuff is exempt from sales tax, but fencing and stuff for buildings are specifically excluded from the sales tax exemption. And the exemption is not for animals raised for my own consumption, so that can be difficult to separate out...

Oh yeah i forgot about that.

Oh Ag Use is literally called Ag Exemption on the property tax paper so maybe its my states fault everyone calls it that. We have sales tax, income tax and property tax. We are tax exempt for anything for ag use feed, fencing, posts, electric wire, fencer, building materials, feeders, waterers, dog food, anything that could be used for farming/livestock/shelter.

 

[misfitmorgan]

Sounds like a pretty good setup there in Ohio Norse. Still they basically say the same thing most states do.


http://www.farmanddairy.com/news/tax-time-thinking-about-cauv-do-you-qualify/1620.html

It's why I tell anyone moving here, to get their Ps & Qs in order and keep them in order if they want to qual for ag ....and stay that way.
There are other financial advantages to being in Texas agriculture.
1. Farm related sales tax exemptions--in Texas, you have to apply for farm tax exempt status tax # and 'the little guys' generally can't get it without being on land ag valuation, or a bona fide full time employee of a farm or ranch.
2. Farm tags for vehicles--trucks/trailers. Lots cheaper. Requires the tax stamp to get them. Far tag (license plates) can also increase the allowed GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating) on a truck and trailer. I can legally haul a lot more wt with my truck and trailer with farm tags than if they had regular lic plates. I have seen people get overweight tickets for hauling a few cows in a 14' bumper pull stock trailer with regular tags on the vehicle and trailer, but wouldn't have gotten the ticket if they had farm tags.

In Texas, tax records are private and the appraisal office is a stickler about that.When one applies for the ag valuation, don't expect the appraisal folks to tell you if it has met the '3 previous years on ag' requirement--they won't. It's up to the new land owner to find that info from the seller and be able to prove it to the appraisal officer--otherwise, that ag valuation won't kick in for the new owner for 3 years, no matter how many cattle he is running or how many acres he has under cultivation for those first 3 years..

For us to get tax exempt you just have to go online and get a EIN for free and then fill out the paperwork for each store you wanna be tax exempt at and it does not have anything to do with being commercial or not here.

We can also get farm plates for our vehicles it does however not change the weight your allowed to tow but unless you using a semi to haul no one pays attention to it.

 

[greybeard]

Yep, our appraisal folks call it an exemption too--in voice, but not on paper.
Texas Dept of Public Safety (state highway patrol) will squeeze a nickel to get a dime if they can, so they sometimes set those scales up on US 59 on Saturdays when everyone is hauling stock to the sale barn.

 

[misfitmorgan]

Yep, our appraisal folks call it an exemption too--in voice, but not on paper.
Texas Dept of Public Safety (state highway patrol) will squeeze a nickel to get a dime if they can, so they sometimes set those scales up on US 59 on Saturdays when everyone is hauling stock to the sale barn.

Well thats a dirty thing to do! DOT here will occasionally go after those hauling stock with semi trucks to make sure they are not overweight but that is way different then going after someone hauling with a pickup and trailer. Not to say we dont have our fair share of cops who are having a bad day and wanna be jerks but for the most part they let the farmers slide on a lot here at least in my area.

 

[greybeard]

well, they got a job to do same as everyone else I guess, and to be fair, I've seen some of these 'wood folk' with pretty ragged looking trailers show up on sale day, that I'd be afraid to haul a pen of bunnies down the road in. When they go to swing the back gate open at pickup and the whole thing breaks off the rusty hinges, it's not good. my stuff isn't close to perfect, but i won't endanger the public if it isn't road worthy.

 

[misfitmorgan]

well, they got a job to do same as everyone else I guess, and to be fair, I've seen some of these 'wood folk' with pretty ragged looking trailers show up on sale day, that I'd be afraid to haul a pen of bunnies down the road in. When they go to swing the back gate open at pickup and the whole thing breaks off the rusty hinges, it's not good. my stuff isn't close to perfect, but i won't endanger the public if it isn't road worthy.

That's why i said our fair share of cops who are having a bad day and want to be a jerk....i dont dislike cops and everyone has their days. For the most part they leave small farmers alone though which is what i was getting at. I've never seen anyone haul livestock in anything that bad up here not even to auction but we dont have wood folks or hill folks much so that could be why.

 

[NH homesteader]

Police here don't even look at trucks with ag plates. I appreciate that!

 

[Alexz7272]

Whelp! Thanks to Colorado voting to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour, the boyfriend is 90% on board to move to Texas within the next year! This is the ONLY time I will say thank you to the Liberals of this state, hahaha!

 

[Latestarter]

OMG... they did?! What IDIOTS! The cost of living there is now going to skyrocket!