STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1798--A
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 14, 2015
___________
Introduced by Sens. RITCHIE, BONACIC, CROCI, DeFRANCISCO, FARLEY, GALLI-
VAN, GRIFFO, LARKIN, LAVALLE, LITTLE, MARCHIONE, NOZZOLIO, O'MARA,
ORTT, PANEPINTO, RANZENHOFER, ROBACH, SEWARD, VALESKY, YOUNG -- read
twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the
Committee on Investigations and Government Operations -- recommitted
to the Committee on Investigations and Government Operations in
accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to providing a tax credit to
farmers who sell or rent their agricultural land to a young farmer
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 210-B of the tax law is amended by adding a new
2 subdivision 51 to read as follows:
3 51. Credit for farmers who sell or rent their agricultural land to a
4 young farmer. (a) Allowance of credit. A taxpayer that is an agricul-
5 tural business principally engaged in farming, as such term is defined
6 in paragraph nineteen of subdivision (b) of section eleven hundred one
7 of this chapter shall be allowed a credit against the tax imposed by
8 this article for the sale or rent of their agricultural lands to a young
9 farmer, as defined in this section. Such credit shall be ten percent of
10 the purchase price or rental amount of the agricultural lands.
11 (b) For purposes of this subdivision, "young farmer" shall mean a
12 farmer who has not produced an agricultural product for more than ten
13 consecutive years, where agricultural product means any agricultural or
14 aquacultural product of the soil or water, including but not limited to
15 fruits, vegetables, eggs, dairy products, meat and meat products, poul-
16 try and poultry products, fish and fish products, grain and grain
17 products, honey, nuts, preserves, maple sap products, apple cider, fruit
18 juice, horticultural specialties, and Christmas trees and who will mate-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05709-02-6
S. 1798--A 2
1 rially and substantially participate in the production of an agricul-
2 tural project.
3 (c) Prior to sale, the seller shall convey to the department of agri-
4 culture and markets, an easement, the terms of which limit development
5 of the land to agricultural business, principally farming, as such term
6 is defined in paragraph nineteen of subdivision (b) of section eleven
7 hundred one of this chapter. The easement shall expire not less than ten
8 years from the date of sale.
9 § 2. Section 606 of the tax law is amended by adding a new subsection
10 (eee) to read as follows:
11 (eee) Credit for the sale or rent of agricultural land to a young
12 farmer. (1) Allowance of credit. A taxpayer whose federal gross income
13 from farming for the taxable year is at least two-thirds of excess
14 federal gross income shall be allowed a credit against the tax imposed
15 by this article for the sale or rent of agricultural land or equipment
16 to a young farmer, as defined by section two hundred ten-B of this chap-
17 ter. Such credit shall be ten percent of the purchase price of rental
18 amount of the agricultural land, and shall be allowed notwithstanding
19 subsection (kk) of this section.
20 (2) Definitions. For purposes of this subsection, the following defi-
21 nitions shall apply:
22 (A) "Excess federal gross income" means the amount of federal gross
23 income from all sources for the taxable year reduced by the sum, not to
24 exceed thirty thousand dollars, of those items included in federal gross
25 income which consist of:
26 (i) earned income,
27 (ii) pension payments, including social security payments,
28 (iii) interest, and
29 (iv) dividends.
30 (B) For purposes of this paragraph, the term "earned income" shall
31 mean wages, salaries, tips and other employee compensation, and those
32 items of gross income which are includible in the computation of net
33 earnings from self-employment. For the purposes of this paragraph,
34 payments from the state's farmland protection program, administered by
35 the department of agriculture and markets, shall be included as federal
36 gross income from farming.
37 (3) Application of credit. If the amount of the credit allowed under
38 this subsection for any taxable year shall exceed the taxpayer's tax for
39 such year, the excess shall be treated as an overpayment of tax to be
40 credited or refunded in accordance with the provisions of section six
41 hundred eighty-six of this article, provided, however, that no interest
42 shall be paid thereon.
43 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to taxable
44 years beginning on and after January 1, 2017.
