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Senate Agriculture panel presses tax officials on current-use rules and options for horse farms
Summary
Tax department staff told the Senate Agriculture committee that Vermont's current-use property tax program treats land and buildings differently, that equine-related services often fail the statute's "business of farming" test, and that legislative changes or a limited "true-up" could ease some hardship on farmers who miss deadlines.
Senate Agriculture committee members devoted a 90-minute session April 2 to how Vermont's current-use land tax program treats new construction and equine-related operations, pressing the Department of Taxes for options to reduce steep, single-year penalties for missed enrollment deadlines and to clarify whether boarding and other services should qualify as farming.
The department described the program as large and administratively intensive: "it's about $78 million in foregone state education and local municipal tax" payments tied to current-use enrollments, Will Baker, legal director at the Department of Taxes, told the panel. He said roughly 19,800 parcels are enrolled statewide.
Why it matters: Land placed in current use is taxed at a use value to support agriculture and working lands, while buildings on that land can be taxed differently depending on whether their owners meet the statutory definition of the "business of farming." That distinction can trigger large tax bills when a landowner builds a new structure or changes ownership and misses the program's filing deadlines.
Baker said the statute…
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