I made a profit from selling beef calves. Am I able to deduct the rent for the pasture and feed/ veterinarian bills?

[zbirr]

The taxes that Turbo tax has taken out seems to be a significant amount compared to how much I spent to raise these calves.  How do I go about getting a tax ID number for my farm and do I need one? Thank you for your help.

[Cattlerancher · Accepted solution]

Schedule F and C profits are taxed at your ordinary tax rate, it's the additional 15.3% SE tax that applies to self employment profits over $400 that makes it heavily taxed. So yes!, be sure to deduct all of your qualifying expenses associated with your farm income, pasture rent, vet bills, feed purchased or raised. Also be sure to expense vehicle mileage and depreciate any breeding stock (purchased cows or bulls), buildings or machinery used in producing this farm income.

To my knowledge, no states require an EIN/tax ID # for a sole proprietorship but all states require one if you have employees. So unless you have employees you do not need an EIN.

I've attach a link to a different but similar question regarding the cattle business and TurboTax that you might find helpful;

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/3587134-our-cows-which-we-listed-as-assets-last-year-had-calves

[view2]

Generally ,when you raise crops or livestock to sale generally you have a cost basis of "0" since you have already expensed the feed, seed,fertilizer and other necessary cost.

"Items Purchased for Resale If you use the cash method of accounting, you ordinarily deduct the cost of livestock and other items purchased for resale only in the year of sale."

Farmers ATG - Chapter Seven: General Livestock

The livestock industry is as varied as any other area of farming and agriculture. Methods of bookkeeping within each operation will differ. Due to these variations, this chapter provides a focus on the business of breeding, raising, buying, and selling livestock.

http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Farmers-ATG-Chapter-Seven-General-Liv...