Tax Traps and Opportunities Associated with Family Farm Transfers

Abstract

Transferring farm property from the Senior to the Junior farm family generation with conventional methods such as sales and debt transfer can cause tax traps or burdens. The most serious tax traps and related problems occur when the farm business being transferred has high debt and is below optimum size and profitability. Farm families should recognize the conditions that cause tax traps when farm property is transferred. Alternative planning and transfer strategies can be used to avoid serious tax traps and maximize after tax income.