Tag: Property tax

Do property tax benefits for forest landowners work?

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
Every state in the U.S. has a program that lowers property taxes for people who enroll their private forestlands. But the programs may not work, according to a new review paper by USDA Forest Service research economist Greg Frey. Frey organized the review around two broad goals that the programs might have: keeping forests as…  More 

Understanding your taxes as a forest landowner

by Kathryn Sosbe, Forest Service Office of Communication  • 
Tax implications for forest landowners depend on the activity or activities on your land. Tax Tips for Forest Landowners: 2022 Tax Year (PDF) can help forest owners understand the basics of forest-related federal tax provisions and how that relates to income tax planning. Tax Tips for Forest Landowners is an annual information and educational publication…  More 

Timber Tax Tips can help forest owners realize potential tax benefits

by Kathryn Sosbe, Office of Communication  • 
Family forests provide many valuable goods and services that extend beyond their boundaries, including clean air and water, wildlife habitat, and carbon sequestration. Although owners of forested land usually don’t get paid directly for those benefits, there are tax incentives that can be associated with management activities. Landowners often do not know that reforestation, timber…  More 

Forest Landowners and State Property Tax Programs

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
Every state in the U.S. has a property tax program that lowers taxes for forest landowners. Greg Frey and Stephanie Snyder of the USDA Forest Service, with Justin Meier, Michael Kilgore, and Charlie Blinn of the University of Minnesota recently published two papers that build on their previous analysis of all fifty state property tax…  More 

Promoting Ecosystem Services with State Property Tax Programs

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
Every state in the U.S. offers tax breaks to forest landowners. But the details vary significantly – which makes it hard for policymakers to compare the programs, as a team of researchers from the USDA Forest Service and the University of Minnesota has shown. “State property tax programs incentivize ecosystem services,” says Forest Service scientist…  More