If you've upgraded your chemical storage facilities since May of 2008 or plan to do so in the next two years, read on. If you have custom fertilizer or pesticide application businesses. keep reading.
You may be missing an opportunity to claim an Ag Chemicals Security [tax] Credit. That's the word from Yair Holtzman and Adam Packer, tax specialists with WTP Advisors, a tax and business advisory based in White Plains, N.Y.
ACS, buried in the 2008 Farm Bill, aims to boost security of potentially harmful ag chemicals and fertilizers from those who would use them for destructive purposes. The credit is designed to offset 30% of certain types of security expenses incurred after May 22, 2008.
"Many eligible businesses that could qualify for the credit may not be claiming it," says Holtzman. Reason: Those familiar with tax matters may not know the chemical names of pesticides and fertilizers.
Chemicals that qualify include certain nitrogen fertilizers commonly used in ag operations and any pesticide (as defined in section 2(u) of the Federal
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act), including all active and inert ingredients customarily used on crops grown for food, feed or fiber.
Here's a short list of what qualifies for the tax credit:
• Employee security training and background checks
• Construction that limits access to controls of specified stored ag chemicals
• Tagging, locking tank valves, and chemical additives to prevent the theft
• Security lighting, cameras, recording equipment, and intrusion detection sensors
• Measures that increase computer or computer network security