Former North Dakota Attorney General and Senator, Heidi Heitkamp, says farmers and small business owners need to be aware of tax schemes that may prey upon their ambitions.
Research and development tax credits may be available to farmers for the implementation of practices that make their operations more innovative and efficient; such as conservation practices to increase water quality, or changes in feed for livestock to increase production. Heitkamp, who now serves as Director of Alliant Group, says these credits are not simple to apply for.
Alliant Group is a specialty accounting firm providing R&D accounting work for small and medium sized businesses.
Heitkamp says some tax groups are using unregulated AI tools to promise farmers and business owners large returns on these R&D tax credits – even if they don’t qualify. She says it’s not as simple as filling out a form to apply for them.
"R&D tax credits, and making those tax credits basically - legitimizing those tax credits with the IRS is not for the faint hearted, or the slip-shot operator. It takes a lot of work, and a lot of background. If you think about Alliant Group - yes, they employ a lot of CPAs... but they also employ phD agronomists, phD ag economists. There's just a lot of work behind applying for these tax credits that you want to make sure gets done."
Heitkamp says it could open producers up to audits for filing fraudulent returns. She recommends working with local, legitimate providers and not trusting unprompted cold calls from anyone promising something too good to be true.
Heitkamp says farmers are especially vulnerable now as input costs continue to climb.
