For the definition of material participation for purposes of the passive activity rules, see the instructions for Schedule C, line G, on page C-3. If you meet any of the material participation tests described in those instructions, check the Yes box.

If you are a retired or disabled farmer, you are treated as materially participating in a farming business if you materially participated 5 or more of the 8 years preceding your retirement or disability. Also, a surviving spouse is treated as materially participating in a farming activity if he or she actively manages the farm and the real property used for farming meets the estate tax rules for special valuation of farm property passed from a qualifying decedent.

Check the No box if you did not materially participate. If you checked No and you have a loss from this business, see Limit on passive losses below. If you have a profit from this business activity but have current year losses from other passive activities or prior year unallowed passive ac tivity losses, see the Instructions for Form 8582.

If you checked the No box and you have a loss from this business, you may have to use Form 8582 to figure your allowable loss, if any, to enter on Schedule F, line 36. Generally, you can deduct losses from passive activities only to the extent of income from passive activities. For details, see Pub. 925.

In Part I, show income received for items listed on lines 1 through 10. Generally, include both the cash actually or constructively received and the fair market value of goods or other property received for these items. Income is constructively received when it is credited to your account or set aside for you to use. However, direct payments or counter-cyclical payments received under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 are required to be included in income only in the year of actual receipt.

If you ran the farm yourself and received rents based on crop shares or farm production, report these rents as income on line 4.

If you sold livestock because of drought, flood, or other weather-related conditions, you can elect to report the income from the sale in the year after the year of sale if all of the following apply.

• Your main business is farming.
• You can show that you sold the livestock only because of weather-related conditions.
• Your area qualified for federal aid.
  See chapter 3 of Pub. 225 for details.

If you were a debtor in a chapter 11 bankruptcy case during 2008, see page 20 in the instructions for Form 1040 and page SE-2 of the instructions for Schedule SE (Form 1040).

If you received Forms 1099 or CCC-1099-G showing amounts paid to you, first determine if the amounts are to be included with farm income. Then, use the following chart to determine where to report the income on Schedule F. Include the Form 1099 or CCC-1099-G amounts in the total amount reported on that line.

Form		Where to report
1099-PATR		Line 5a
1099-A		Line 7b
1099-MISC for crop insurance		Line 8a
1099-G or CCC-1099-G
for disaster payments		Line 8a
for other agricultural   program payments		Line 6a

You may also receive Form 1099-MISC for other types of income. In this case, report it on whichever line best describes the income. For example, if you received a Form 1099-MISC for custom farming work, include this amount on line 9, Custom hire (machine work) income.

If you received distributions from a cooperative in 2008, you should receive a Form 1099-PATR. On line 5a, show your total distributions from cooperatives. This includes patronage dividends, nonpatronage distributions, per-unit retain allocations, and redemptions of nonqualified written notices of allocation and per-unit retain certificates.

Show patronage dividends received in cash and the dollar amount of qualified written notices of allocation. If you received property as patronage dividends, report the fair market value of the property as income. Include cash advances received from a marketing cooperative. If you received per-unit retains in cash, show the amount of cash. If you received qualified per-unit retain certificates, show the stated dollar amount of the certificates.

Do not include as income on line 5b patronage dividends from buying personal or family items, capital assets, or depreciable assets. Enter these amounts on line 5a only. Because you do not report patronage dividends from these items as income, you must subtract the amount of the dividend from the cost or other basis of these items.

Enter on line 6a the total of the following amounts.

• Direct payments.
• Counter-cyclical payments.
• Price support payments.
• Market gain from the repayment of a secured Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) loan for less than the original loan amount.
• Diversion payments.
• Cost-share payments (sight drafts).
• Payments in the form of materials (such as fertilizer or lime) or services (such as grading or building dams).

These amounts are government payments you received and are usually reported to you on Form 1099-G. You may also receive Form CCC-1099-G from the Department of Agriculture showing the amounts and types of payments made to you.

On line 6b, report only the taxable amount. For example, do not report the market gain shown on Form CCC-1099-G on line 6b if you elected to report CCC loan proceeds as income in the year received (see Lines 7a Through 7c below). No gain results from redemption of the commodity because you previously reported the CCC loan proceeds as income. You are treated as repurchasing the commodity for the amount of the loan repayment. However, if you did not report the CCC loan proceeds under the election, you must report the market gain on line 6b.

Generally, you do not report CCC loan proceeds as income. However, if you pledge part or all of your production to secure a CCC loan, you can elect to report the loan proceeds as income in the year you receive them, instead of the year you sell the crop. If you make this election (or made the election in a prior year), report loan proceeds you received in 2008 on line 7a. Attach a statement to your return showing the details of the loan(s).

Include the full amount forfeited on line 7b, even if you reported the loan proceeds as income. This amount may be reported to you on Form 1099-A.

If you did not elect to report the loan proceeds as income, also include the forfeited amount on line 7c.

If you did elect to report the loan proceeds as income, you generally will not have an entry on line 7c. But if the amount forfeited is different from your basis in the commodity, you may have an entry on  
line 7c.

See chapter 3 of Pub. 225 for details on the tax consequences of electing to report CCC loan proceeds as income or forfeiting CCC loans.

In general, you must report crop insurance proceeds in the year you receive them. Federal crop disaster payments are treated as crop insurance proceeds. However, if 2008 was the year of damage, you can elect to include certain proceeds in income for 2009. To make this election, check the box on line 8c and attach a statement to your return. See chapter 3 of Pub. 225 for a description of the proceeds for which an election can be made and for what you must include in your statement.

Generally, if you elect to defer any eligible crop insurance proceeds, you must defer all such crop insurance proceeds (including federal crop disaster payments).

Enter on line 8a the total crop insurance proceeds you received in 2008, even if you elect to include them in income for 2009.

Enter on line 8b the taxable amount of the proceeds you received in 2008. Do not include proceeds you elect to include in income for 2009.

Enter on line 8d the amount, if any, of crop insurance proceeds you received in 2007 and elected to include in income for 2008.

Use this line to report income not shown on lines 1 through 9, such as the following.

• Illegal federal irrigation subsidies. See chapter 3 of Pub. 225.
• Bartering income.
• Income from cancellation of debt. Generally, if a debt is canceled or forgiven, you must include the canceled amount in income. If a federal agency, financial institution, or credit union canceled or forgave a debt you owed of $600 or more, it should send you a Form 1099-C, or similar statement, by February 2, 2009, showing the amount of debt canceled in 2008. However, you may be able to exclude the canceled debt from income. See Pub. 4681 for details.
• State gasoline or fuel tax refunds you received in 2008.
• The amount of credit for federal tax paid on fuels, if you deducted the total cost of the fuel on your 2007 Form 1040.
• The amount of credit for alcohol and cellulosic biofuel fuels that was claimed on Form 6478.
• The amount of credit for biodiesel and renewable diesel fuels that was claimed on Form 8864.
• Any recapture of excess depreciation on any listed property, including any section 179 expense deduction, if the business use percentage of that property decreased to 50% or less in 2008. Use Form 4797 to figure the recapture. See the instructions for Schedule C, line 13, on page C-5 for the definition of listed property.
• The inclusion amount on leased listed property (other than vehicles) when the business use percentage drops to 50% or less. See chapter 5 of Pub. 946 to figure the amount.
• Any recapture of the deduction for clean-fuel vehicles and clean-fuel vehicle refueling property used in your farming business. For details on how to figure recapture, see Regulations section 1.179A-1.
• The gain or loss on the sale of commodity futures contracts if the contracts were made to protect you from price changes. These are a form of business insurance and are considered hedges. If you had a loss in a closed futures contract, enclose the amount of the loss in parentheses.
• Any income from breeding fees, or fees from renting teams, machinery, or land.

 

 

Purchase or sales contracts are not true hedges if they offset losses that already occurred. If you bought or sold commodity futures with the hope of making a profit due to favorable price changes, report the profit or loss on Form 6781 instead of this line.