Farmers, ranchers affected by drought have more time to replace livestock and defer tax

BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) — Farmers and ranchers who were forced to sell livestock due to drought may get extra time to replace the livestock and defer Idaho tax on any gains from the forced sales.

This deferral follows the guidelines set by the IRS.

• The one-year extension gives eligible farmers and ranchers until the end of the tax year after the first drought-free year to replace the sold livestock.  
• The farmer or rancher must be in an applicable region. An applicable region is a county designated as eligible for federal assistance, as well as counties contiguous to that county.  
• The county included in the applicable region must be listed as suffering exceptional, extreme, or severe drought conditions by the National Drought Mitigation Center. For Idaho, this includes the counties of Ada, Adams, Bannock, Bear Lake, Benewah, Bingham, Blaine, Boise, Bonner, Bonneville, Boundary, Butte, Camas, Canyon, Caribou, Cassia, Clark, Clearwater, Custer, Elmore, Franklin, Fremont, Gem, Gooding, Idaho, Jefferson, Jerome, Kootenai, Latah, Lemhi, Lewis, Lincoln, Minidoka, Nez Perce, Oneida, Owyhee, Payette, Power, Shoshone, Teton, Twin Falls, Valley, and Washington. Find the complete list of applicable regions in Notice 2021-55 on IRS.gov.  
• The relief applies to farmers affected by drought that happened between September 1, 2020, and August 31, 2021.  
• This relief generally applies to capital gains realized by eligible farmers and ranchers on sales of livestock held for draft, dairy, or breeding purposes. Sales of other livestock — such as those raised for slaughter or held for sporting purposes — or poultry aren’t eligible.

Details are in Notice 2006-82 on IRS.gov.