STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1438--A 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 9, 2017 ___________ Introduced by Sens. RITCHIE, BONACIC, DeFRANCISCO, GALLIVAN, GRIFFO, LARKIN, MARCHIONE, O'MARA, ORTT, RANZENHOFER, SEWARD, YOUNG -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Government Operations -- reported favorably from said committee and committed to the Committee on Finance -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to providing a tax credit to farmers who sell or rent their agricultural land to a young farmer The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 210-B of the tax law is amended by adding a new 2 subdivision 53 to read as follows: 3 53. Credit for farmers who sell or rent their agricultural land to a 4 young farmer. (a) Allowance of credit. A taxpayer that is an agricul- 5 tural business principally engaged in farming, as such term is defined 6 in paragraph nineteen of subdivision (b) of section eleven hundred one 7 of this chapter shall be allowed a credit against the tax imposed by 8 this article for the sale or rent of their agricultural lands to a young 9 farmer, as defined in this section. Such credit shall be ten percent of 10 the purchase price or rental amount of the agricultural lands; provided, 11 however, that such price shall not exceed the fair market value of the 12 real property. A taxpayer who sells or rents their agricultural land to 13 a relative shall be eligible for the credit established in this section. 14 (b) For purposes of this subdivision, "young farmer" shall mean a 15 farmer who is at least eighteen years old and who has not produced an 16 agricultural product for more than ten consecutive years, where agricul- 17 tural product means any agricultural or aquacultural product of the soil 18 or water, including but not limited to fruits, vegetables, eggs, dairy 19 products, meat and meat products, poultry and poultry products, fish and 20 fish products, grain and grain products, honey, nuts, preserves, maple EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD07443-02-7S. 1438--A 2 1 sap products, apple cider, fruit juice, horticultural specialties, and 2 Christmas trees and who will materially and substantially participate in 3 the production of an agricultural project. 4 (c) Prior to sale, the seller shall convey to the department of agri- 5 culture and markets, an easement, the terms of which limit development 6 of the land to agricultural business, principally farming, as such term 7 is defined in paragraph nineteen of subdivision (b) of section eleven 8 hundred one of this chapter. The easement shall expire not less than ten 9 years from the date of sale. 10 § 2. Section 606 of the tax law is amended by adding a new subsection 11 (ccc) to read as follows: 12 (ccc) Credit for the sale or rent of agricultural land to a young 13 farmer. (1) Allowance of credit. A taxpayer whose federal gross income 14 from farming for the taxable year is at least two-thirds of excess 15 federal gross income shall be allowed a credit against the tax imposed 16 by this article for the sale or rent of agricultural land or equipment 17 to a young farmer, as defined by section two hundred ten-B of this chap- 18 ter. Such credit shall be ten percent of the purchase price of rental 19 amount of the agricultural land, and shall be allowed notwithstanding 20 subsection (kk) of this section. 21 (2) Definitions. For purposes of this subsection, the following defi- 22 nitions shall apply: 23 (A) "Excess federal gross income" means the amount of federal gross 24 income from all sources for the taxable year reduced by the sum, not to 25 exceed thirty thousand dollars, of those items included in federal gross 26 income which consist of: 27 (i) earned income, 28 (ii) pension payments, including social security payments, 29 (iii) interest, and 30 (iv) dividends. 31 (B) For purposes of this paragraph, the term "earned income" shall 32 mean wages, salaries, tips and other employee compensation, and those 33 items of gross income which are includible in the computation of net 34 earnings from self-employment. For the purposes of this paragraph, 35 payments from the state's farmland protection program, administered by 36 the department of agriculture and markets, shall be included as federal 37 gross income from farming. 38 (3) Application of credit. If the amount of the credit allowed under 39 this subsection for any taxable year shall exceed the taxpayer's tax for 40 such year, the excess shall be treated as an overpayment of tax to be 41 credited or refunded in accordance with the provisions of section six 42 hundred eighty-six of this article, provided, however, that no interest 43 shall be paid thereon. 44 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to taxable 45 years beginning on and after January 1, 2018.