In our last post, we informed you how to claim your first time home buyer tax credit. For those of you who own (or are thinking about purchasing) land in Rockingham County, there may be some tax benefits for you, depending on how you use your land.

If you meet these criteria, you may qualify for a special land use assessment from the County:

AGRICULTURE (CROP OR LIVESTOCK) LAND USE

• Real estate property taxes must have been fully paid for previous year
• Operate (or lease out) the acreage for bona fide agricultural production for the previous consecutive 5 years
• Your farm’s (or lessee’s) gross sales of agricultural products exceeded $1,000 for the previous 5 years
• You (or lessee) filed an IRS schedule F during each of the previous 5 years
• If crops harvested, your crop yield must exceed 1/2 the county’s average yields for the previous 3 years
• You must farm, pasture (or lease out) a minimum of 5 continuous acres (6 acres including residence) titled in the same ownership on the deed for each parcel

FORESTED LAND USE

• Real estate property taxes must have been fully paid for previous year
• You must own 20 acres or more of continuous woodland (21 acres including residence) titled in the same ownership on the deed for each parcel
• The land must be growing a well distributed, commercially valuable forest crop that is physically accessible for harvesting when mature
• You must certify that the land is used in a planned program of timber management

If you qualify for the above, visit Rockingham County’s official website for information about the process of getting your land a special assessment. You can also find information regarding fees and deadlines for assessments, other specific information about land use, and details on rollback taxes.

If you are thinking of purchasing land in Rockingham County, give us a call! We can run a specific search that meets your criteria, and help you through the purchasing process.

*Image credit: chefranden