Under the IRS hobby loss rule, if you have losses in connection with any farming activity, whether livestock, horses, or crops, the IRS may suspect that the activity is engaged in as a hobby rather than a business, particularly if there is a history of losses.

After about 30 years handling tax audits, appeals and U.S. Tax Court cases, it seems to me that the IRS is taking a more aggressive approach against people in various industriesincluding livestock and horse activities. If you are audited by the IRS and you have a history of losses with little or no profits, the following advice pertains to you.

Most of the problems with hobby loss audits involve people who have a history of losses with their ranch, farm or horse venture. The IRS tends to say that the activity is not conducted as a business, so that the tax losses are disallowed. This can be a substantial tax payment for quite a few taxpayers.

In hobby loss audits, the IRS sometimes views various types of ranching activities as a means of generating tax losses, rather than a profitoriented venture. That was the issue in the Tax Court case, Ralph Wesinger, Jr., v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue.

Many years ago, a federal court defined the word profit as the advantage or gain resulting from the investment of capital, or the acquisition of money beyond the amount expended; a pecuniary gain.

The accuracy and businesslike nature of records is something that the IRS has been scrutinizing more and more in recent years. The IRS expects all taxpayers to maintain canceled checks, invoices, credit card statements and similar items needed to substantiate amounts claimed as business deductions and to help prepare ones tax returns.

The American wind power industry grew substantially in 2009 and at this point, almost 2 percent of the countrys electricity is produced from wind turbines. Many of these turbines are on farm and ranch properties all over the country. I have received many inquiries from people who have been approached by wind turbine developers.

Excessive business deductions by livestock or general farmers, or horse owners or for that matter, most any other businesstrigger IRS audits.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been cracking down on individuals and small businesses including farmers, ranchers and horse ownerswith increased tax audits and aggressive tactics to collect taxes. The tactics include an increased volume of audits, and more bank levies and liens on real property.

Most of tax law is in grey areas. For instance, reasonable people, including those within the IRS bureaucracy, will disagree on what constitutes an ordinary and necessary business expensea big area of tax deductions. Another area concerns whether litigation proceeds to compensate for damages to farm or ranch property constitute taxable income.