Two Years After “Fix” Co-Ops Say Section 199A Still Broken

Two years after Congress passed a law closing an unintended loophole in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, farmer cooperatives are still seeking to have Section 199A returned to the way tax deductions worked before. Rocky Weber, president and general counsel of the Nebraska Cooperative Council, says co-operatives thought the language was clear and the tax would revert to its previous form. That was until the Treasury Department began drafting new regulations.

Weber says non-patronage income includes a variety of services, such as fuel sales at convenience stores, rent, and non-traditional farmer purchases and sales.

Weber says both grain cooperatives and non-cooperatives are saying this is not the way the legislation was supposed to be applied, and are pushing the Treasury Department to make the necessary changes. The tax rule remains in the proposed rule stage.