To qualify for the farmland preservation credit, you must meet all of the following conditions:
1. You or any member of your household (see definition on page 3) must have been the owner (see definition on page 3) of the Wisconsin farmland for which the credit is being claimed, during your taxable year that begins in 2014.
2. You must have been a resident of Wisconsin for the entire taxable year. The taxable year may be either calendar year 2014 or a fiscal year beginning in 2014, but it must be for the same period covered by your 2014 income tax return.
A corporation must have been organized under the laws of Wisconsin.
3. You and your spouse must not claim homestead credit for 2014 or the veterans and surviving spouses property tax credit based on your 2014 property taxes (payable in 2015).
4. The 2013 property taxes for the property on which the claim is based must have been paid in full.
5. Your claim must be based on at least 35 acres of farmland.
6. You must be subject to a farmland preservation agreement that was entered into prior to July 1, 2009, and in effect on July 1, 2014. If your agreement expired in 2014, it must have expired on or after July 1, 2014.
7. The farmland on which the claim is based must have produced at least $6,000 of gross farm profits (see definition on page 3) during 2014 or at least a total of $18,000 in gross farm profits for 2012, 2013, and 2014 combined. If you rent out your farmland, the renter’s gross farm profits are used to satisfy this requirement.
EXCEPTION: If at least 35 acres of your farmland were enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, you do not have to meet this gross farm profits requirement.
8. You must not have been notified that you are in violation of a soil and water conservation plan or standards for any farmland. However, if you receive a notice of cancellation of the noncompliance before the deadline for filing your claim, you may then file a claim by the deadline, provided the other conditions are met.
A 2014 farmland preservation credit claim must be filed not later than 4 years after the unextended due date of your 2014 tax return. For calendar year filers, the 2014 Schedule FC must be filed by April 15, 2019 (March 15, 2019, for corporations). This filing deadline applies whether you compute your credit using the prior year’s law or current year’s law method.