|
Posted by Paultry on March 19, 2008, 9:49 pm
Please log in for more thread options
Harlan Lunsford wrote:
> Paultry wrote:
>>
>> I'm not concerned with how the seller treats the transaction - I'm
>> helping the purchaser. My original question was posed in earnest, not
>> tongue-in-cheek.
>>
>> According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Collie),
>> border collies are widely regarded as the most intelligent dog breed
>> and are frequently used on farms all over the world for assisting with
>> the handling of livestock. Quoting Wikipedia, "The use of dogs for
>> herding sheep makes good economic sense. In a typical pasture
>> environment each trained sheepdog will do the work that it would take
>> about three human individuals to do if there were no dogs available."
>>
>> We believe the costs of acquiring, training, and maintaining the dog
>> are ordinary and necessary farm expenses.
>> The dog appears to meet the requirements for depreciable property
>> outlined in Pub 946 in that:
>>
>> It is tangible property owned by the taxpayer;
>> It is used in his income producing sheep farming activity, and for no
>> other purpose;
>> It is expected to last more than one year.
>>
>> We need help with the fourth requirement - determining its useful
>> life. Again, according to Wikipedia, the dog has an expected life
>> span of 12 to 15 years. It's probably fair to assume an adult working
>> life of half that time. We propose to treat the dog as 7-year
>> property, either as agricultural machinery or equipment, or as
>> property not in any other class. I can't find any IRS documentation
>> that addresses this issue. I'm hoping someone here has dealt with
>> this before, and is willing to share the wisdom of experience.
>>
>
> I canna believe how easy it was to get off topic and so quickly, too.
> Nobody really answered the question.
>
> A working dog, like a working machine, is 7 years MACRS.
>
> And they are beautiful to watch when they are working. Some years ago
> on one of our many trips to Scotland we had traveled up this valley and
> when the road ran out, was returning down to the main road when suddenly
> we were stymied because the local farmer was bringing his sheep back
> home that night. The three collies were a joy to watch as they knew
> exactly how to herd the sheep and keep them focused on the way home.
> Of course that was what's known as the 5 O'clock highland traffic jamb,
> and we patiently followed behind them.
>
> BTW, the second word beginning my response is Scottish for "can not".
> And it's happy hour here in Dixie, and I'll drink that that!
>
> Slainte!
>
> Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA
>
Thanks to all that responded, and to you, Harlan, for your
decisive answer and your eloquent comments. Were going with
the 7 years MACRS, though it's hard to reduce this dog to
numbers on paper after seeing him at work in the fields.
Paul T (newly settled in Geneva County, AL from just across
the state line in FL.)
--
<< ------------------------------------------------------- >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
<< to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >>
<< are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ------------------------------------------------------- >>
| 
Yahoo! 
Google 
Windows Live 
del.icio.us 
digg 
Netscape 
XML Sitemap