Page 6 2025 Logan County Spring Outlook LINCOLN DAILY NEWS March 2025 2025 Spring Ag Outlook It is hard to believe that I began serving as the commercial agriculture educator serving Logan, Menard, and Sangamon counties just over a year ago. Over the last year, I have had the opportunity to meet so many people across the three counties and offer educational opportunities and assistance on a whole range of topics. A lot else has changed since last year, especially in policies that impact agricultural production. Two policy topics that can impact producers most in Logan County are changes to the federal tax code and a trade war. What happens in Washington, D.C., may not seem like it affects us here, but federal policy changes can have a profound and lasting impact on how we operate our farms. Taxes are never a fun subject to discuss, especially when changes to the federal tax code could have significant consequences for some farm households. In 2017, Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which changed nearly all parts of the federal tax code. Additional changes were made with the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). Many of these changes have expired or are set to expire in the coming months. The United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service (USDA-ERS) released a report in 2024 projecting the impact of these changes on farm households. The changing provisions can be grouped into individual income, business, and estate taxes. Many of the expiring individual income tax provisions from the TCJA and ARPA expired in January 2025 and are important for those farm businesses that pass their income through to the household. The TCJA adjusted the income tax brackets, rates, and standard deductions. The expiration of these provisions is expected to increase tax liabilities by approximately $4.5 billion, with large and very large farms facing increased tax burdens. The child tax credit was increased from $1,000 to $2,000 under the TCJA, with additional changes made in ARPA. With the credit reverting to the $1,000 level, the number of farm households that receive this tax credit will decrease, with low and moderate-sales farms most impacted. All told the expiration of this provision would increase tax liabilities by approximately $2 billion. With these and other individual income tax provisions expiring, the total expected increase in tax liabilities will be around $9 billion. On the business tax side, the two major changes are the qualified business income deduction (QBID) and bonus depreciation. QBID was introduced to create parity between Continued -- Taxes & Tariffs
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