The farmer's Schedule C. Same job, different sheet, and a handful of rules that exist nowhere else in the code — the two-thirds test, the March filing date, and the farm optional method.
Who files it, and who should not
Publication 225 opens with the test: "You are in the business of farming if you cultivate, operate, or manage a farm for profit, either as owner or tenant." A farm "includes livestock, dairy, poultry, fish, fruit, and truck farms. It also includes plantations, ranches, ranges, and orchards and groves." A nursery that grows ornamental plants counts too.
Three readers who own land or animals are on the wrong schedule if they use it.
The landlord paid in cash. "The cash rent you receive for the use of your farmland by another person or entity is generally rental income, reported on Schedule E, and not farm income." The same goes for renting out pasture for a flat amount without providing services. Pasture fees for looking after someone else's livestock are different: that is farm income, entered on line 8.
The landlord paid in crops who does not take part. Rent received as a share of the crop or livestock goes on Form 4835 when you did not materially participate in running the farm, and the instructions add that this income "isn't subject to self-employment tax." If you did materially participate, it goes on line 2 of Schedule F and carries the tax.
The hobby farm. Publication 225 is plain about an activity not carried on to make a profit: you report its income on Schedule 1, line 8j, and "You can no longer deduct expenses of carrying on the activity." A farm is presumed to be run for profit if it made a profit "in at least 3 of the last 5 tax years, including the current year."
The sale that does not go on Schedule F
Schedule F takes farm products raised for sale and products bought for resale. It does not take the animals that work the farm. Publication 225's table sends "livestock held for draft, breeding, sport, or dairy purposes (bought or raised)" to Form 4797, with equipment, buildings and land, and says of those animals: "you should not report these sales on Schedule F."
The difference matters. Form 4797 can produce capital gain, and Publication 225 lists gains and losses on these animals among those that "aren't included in self-employment earnings," however long they were held and whether they were raised or bought. A dairy cow sold at the end of her milking life and a steer raised for the sale barn are both cattle, and they are reported on different forms.
For animals bought to resell, lines 1a to 1c net the cost against the price. The publication's example: feeder calves bought for $20,000 in 2024 and sold for $25,000 in 2025 put $25,000 on line 1a, the $20,000 basis on line 1b, and the $5,000 profit on line 1c.
The lines a self-employed reader meets
| Line | What it asks |
|---|---|
| F | Whether you made payments this year that would require you to file Forms 1099 |
| 1a–1c | Sales of livestock and other items bought for resale, less their cost |
| 2 | Sales of livestock, produce, grains and other products you raised |
| 3a | Cooperative distributions, reported to you on Form 1099-PATR |
| 4a | Agricultural program payments, reported on Form 1099-G |
| 7 | Custom hire (machine work) income |
| 9 | Gross income |
| 14 | Depreciation and section 179 expense |
| 34 | Net farm profit or loss |
Line F is this site's own subject. A farmer who pays someone who is not an employee, a custom harvester or a mechanic, may have to send them a Form 1099-NEC, and this line asks whether you did. The threshold depends on the year the payment was made: see $600 or $2,000, and which year each applies to.
Line 7 takes the forms you receive for machine work. The instructions give the example directly: "if you receive a Form 1099-MISC for custom farming work, include this amount on line 7."
Line 34 goes to two places. An individual enters it on Schedule 1, line 6, for income tax, and on Schedule SE, line 1a, for self-employment tax.
Four rules that exist only for farmers
No estimated tax, if you file early. The instructions: you won't be charged a penalty for underpaying 2025 estimated tax if "Your gross farming or fishing income for 2024 or 2025 is at least two-thirds of your gross income" and "You file your 2025 tax return and pay the tax due by March 2, 2026." The farmer's March 1 rule explains why the date moved and what missing it costs.
The farm optional method. In a low year you can figure self-employment earnings from gross farm income rather than profit. For 2025 you qualify if gross farm income is $10,860 or less, or net farm profits are less than $7,840. Net earnings are then two-thirds of gross farm income, or $7,240 if gross farm income is more than $10,860. That $7,240 is four Social Security credits at 2025's $1,810 each, so the amounts move with the credit every year. It can cut self-employment tax, or raise earnings on purpose to earn Social Security credit. Publication 225's example: gross farm income of $540 gives optional net earnings of $360, under the $400 threshold, so no self-employment tax is due.
Selling livestock early because of weather. If drought, flood or other weather forced you to sell livestock, you can elect to report the income in the following year when your main business is farming, you can show the weather was the only reason, and your area qualified for federal aid.
Income averaging. Schedule J lets you tax part of this year's farm profit at the rates of the three prior years. It changes income tax only, and the amount you elect is yours to choose; see how much farm income to average.
Spouses who farm together
A married couple who jointly own and run a farm and share its profits can file as a partnership on Form 1065. If both spouses materially participate, they are the only owners, and they file a joint return, they can elect to be a qualified joint venture instead. Each then files their own Schedule F and Schedule SE for their share, which, in the instructions' words, "does give each of you credit for social security earnings on which retirement benefits are based."
Everything on this site that lands here
Each article declares the sheet its number ends up on, so this list is the writing itself rather than a summary of it.
| Read | Where it lands |
|---|---|
| The farmer's March deadline moves | the farm profit the March 1 rule turns on |
Common questions
I rent my farmland to a neighbour for cash. Does that go on Schedule F?
I sold a breeding cow. Which line?
Is my farm profit subject to self-employment tax?
Do farmers have to make quarterly estimated tax payments?
What is line F asking?
The official page
Everything here is written from the IRS's own material, and the place to check it is Schedule F on irs.gov. Figures and rules change; the source is what settles them.
- IRS: 2025 Instructions for Schedule F (Form 1040)
- IRS Publication 225 (2025), Farmer's Tax Guide
- IRS: Schedule F (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Farming, 2025
This is educational material, not tax advice. Your own situation may turn on facts this page does not know about.