IR-2024-248: IRS extends relief to farmers and ranchers impacted by drought in 41 states, other regions

Bookmark and Share

IRS.gov Banner
IRS Newswire September 30, 2024

News Essentials

What's Hot

News Releases

IRS - The Basics

IRS Guidance

Media Contacts

Facts & Figures

Around The Nation

e-News Subscriptions


The Newsroom Topics

Multimedia Center

Noticias en Español

Radio PSAs

Tax Scams

The Tax Gap

Fact Sheets

IRS Tax Tips

Armed Forces

Latest News Home


IRS Resources

Contact My Local Office

Filing Options

Forms & Instructions

Frequently Asked Questions

News

Taxpayer Advocate

Where to File

IRS Social Media


Issue Number:    IR-2024-248

Inside This Issue


IRS extends relief to farmers and ranchers impacted by drought in 41 states, other regions

WASHINGTON − The Internal Revenue Service today issued guidance providing tax relief for farmers and ranchers in applicable regions forced to sell or exchange livestock because of drought conditions.

Under the guidance, farmers and ranchers may have an extended period of time to replace their livestock and defer tax on any gains from the forced sales or exchanges.

Notice 2024-70 provides a list of the applicable areas, by county or other jurisdiction, designated as eligible for federal assistance. The list includes 41 states and other regions for which drought was reported during the 12-month period ending on Aug. 31, 2024.

The tax relief generally applies to capital gains realized by eligible farmers and ranchers on sales or exchanges of livestock held for draft, dairy or breeding purposes. Sales of other livestock, such as those raised for slaughter or held for sporting purposes, or poultry, are not eligible.

The livestock sales or exchanges must be solely due to drought causing an area to be designated as eligible for federal assistance. Livestock generally must be replaced within a four-year period, instead of the usual two-year period. The IRS is authorized to further extend this replacement period if the drought continues.

The replacement period extension announced in the notice gives eligible farmers and ranchers four years until the end of their first tax year after the first drought-free year to replace the sold or exchanged livestock. As a result, eligible farmers and ranchers whose drought-sale replacement period was scheduled to expire at the end of 2024 will have until the end of their next tax year to replace the sold or exchanged livestock.

The IRS provides this extension to eligible farmers and ranchers if the applicable region is listed as suffering exceptional, extreme or severe drought conditions during any week between Sept. 1, 2023, and Aug. 31, 2024. This determination is made by the National Drought Mitigation Center.

Details, including an example of how this provision works, can be found in Notice 2006-82, available on IRS.gov.

More information on reporting drought sales and other farm-related tax issues can be found in Publication 225, Farmer’s Tax Guide, available on IRS.gov.

Back to Top


FaceBook Logo  YouTube Logo  Instagram Logo  Twitter Logo  LinkedIn Logo


Thank you for subscribing to the IRS Newswire, an IRS e-mail service.

If you know someone who might want to subscribe to this mailing list, please forward this message to them so they can subscribe.

This message was distributed automatically from the mailing list IRS Newswire. Please Do Not Reply To This Message.