USDA FSA changes could affect farmers’ 2012 IRS tax filings

from the Fulton-Lucas FSA County office:

USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) will be making changes that may affect your 2012 tax filings with the Internal Revenue Service. Farmers and other recipients of farm program payments will need to know about these IRS code changes for reporting and filing income taxes.

Beginning with the 2012 calendar year:

• The FSA Kansas City Field Office will not generate and mail IRS Form 1099-G and IRS Form 1099-MISC to producers if the total of reportable payments for a specific tax identification number is less than $600. (IRS forms are not mailed out by the local FSA County Office.)
• However, producers subject to voluntary withholding, or backup (involuntary) withholding, will still receive the appropriate IRS form, even if combined payments are less than $600.
• Producers who receive payments from multiple county FSA offices will receive only one IRS Form 1099-G if combined payments total $600 or more.
• Producers receiving less than $600 in combined payments from FSA should consult a tax advisor to determine if these payments must be reported on their tax return.
• Before the end of the 2012 calendar year, Disbursement Transaction Statements from FSA will state, “For calendar year 2012, any customer receiving less than $600 of reportable program benefits will no longer receive a 1099 tax form from FSA.”

The FSA web-based “Financial Inquiries” applications will continue to display all producer payments regardless of the total amount over, or under, $600 per year. To gain access to the “Financial Inquiries” applications, producers must first create an account by clicking the link here. Producers will receive an e-mail confirmation within 1 hour. Within the e-mail producers must click on a prompt to activate the account; then, within seven days, present a valid photo ID to the local FSA office to upgrade to a Level 2 account. A Level 2 account will allow access to all of FSA’s available e-Gov applications only for that specific tax identification number for the entity or individual.