Farm/Ranch Tax, Estate and Business Planning Conference August 1-2 – Durango, Colorado (and Online)

Details

This summer’s second premier national ag income tax and estate/business planning conference will be in Durango, Colorado on August 1 and 2 at Fort Lewis College.  The first conference was held at the Wisconsin Dells in mid-June.  If you aren’t able to attend in-person, the conference will be live-cast on the web. 

Day 1 Itinerary

• I will start off Monday August 1 with a tax update covering key rulings and cases of recent vintage. This session will keep you updated on what the tax issues are in the courts and with the IRS. 
• Paul Neiffer with CliftonLarsonAllen will take us through the tax reporting issues with various federal farm programs and the options for deferring crop insurance.
• I will then have a session on correcting depreciation errors. When can an amended return be filed and when is Form 3115 required?
• Paul will then cover research and development credits and how to claim them on an amended return. He will follow this session with another session on farm net operating losses – a tax technique that has been modified several times in recent years.  Making and revoking elections will be addressed.
• During the last morning session, I will cover taxation of retailer reward programs from the perspective of both the retailer and the customer. These programs are popular among many ag retailers.  I will also address the proper tax treatment of demolishing structures on the farm.
• After the luncheon, Tiffany Robinson of the Criminal Investigation Division of IRS will provide insight from the Division’s perspective on how a business can identify data breaches, how the “Dark Web” is utilized for cyber-crimes, and crypto crimes.
• The afternoon session involves myself and Paul covering numerous farm tax topics from machinery trades to inventory accounting, to early termination of CRP contracts, weather-related livestock sales and contribution margin analysis.

Day 2 Itinerary

• Tuesday August 2 opens with my update of cases and rulings pertaining to farm business structures and estate planning.
• I will follow my opening session with a discussion of succession planning strategies with intentionally defective grantor trusts and grantor-retained annuity trusts.
• After the morning break, Tim O’Sullivan of the Foulston firm in Wichita, Kansas, will address income and estate planning techniques for estates of all sizes and how to fit those techniques with your client’s particular goals and objectives.
• The final morning session will involve Mary Ellen Denomy, a nationally known speaker on oil and gas issues and CPA addressing how to report oil and gas royalties and working interest payments on the tax return; estate plans for clients with oil and gas interests; whether clients are being paid according to their agreements; and the role of the CPA in these situations.
• After the luncheon, Mark Dikeman of the Kansas State University Farm Management Association will provide a session on farm economics and how to analyze the economic health of a client’s farming/ranching business. What is the true financial health of the business as opposed to what the tax return might say?
• The next session is an absolute must if you represent clients with water rights. This panel session will involve three practitioners (one from Kansas (Mike Ramsey) and two from Colorado (Andy Morehead and John Howe) that will cover water rights in the context of income tax and estate/business planning.  How do water rights impact sale and transition transactions? 
• Shawn Leisinger and I will close out the day with an hour of ethics focusing on asset protection planning - the right way to do it and the potential ethical violations if it is not done properly. This will be an eye-opening session.

Attend Online

If you can’t attend in person, attendance may be virtually. 

Accreditation

Washburn Law School is an NASBA certified CPE provider. For accountants, the conference qualifies as GIB, but is also offered in GL format.  The conference also qualifies for CLE credit for attorneys. 

Additional Information

More information about the conference and how to register can be found at this link:  https://www.washburnlaw.edu/employers/cle/farmandranchtaxaugust.html

Conclusion

If you have a rural practice or represent farm and ranch clients on their tax or estate/business planning issues, this conference is a “must attend” conference.  I hope to see you there or online.