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- Info
Taxes and the southern forest
| Author: |
Siegel, W.C.; Hickman, C.A. |
| Date: |
1989 |
| Periodical: |
In: The South's Fourth Forest: Alternatives for the Future: Proceedings of the Policy and Program Conference. Misc. Pub. 1463. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service |
| Abstract: |
In examining forest management from a business point of view, the practical significance of taxation is probably greater than that of any other economic institution. This is particularly true in the South, where most of the commercial forests are privately owned. In speaking of taxes in general, Ciriacy-Wantrup (1959) stated, “… the tax system has highly significant but unintended, unrecognized and socially undesirable effects upon conservation decisions of private planning agents.” In an attempt to alleviate some of these effects for the forestry sector, society has made the decision to modify many of the traditional taxation precepts in order to better address the unique aspects of forestry investments. These modifications have been well accepted by southern woodland owners. Many have tailored their forestry investments and management decisions to the fiscal certainty provided by the special forest tax laws. Unexpected tax changes could render established forestry programs completely invalid from an investment standpoint. Likewise, the threat of a tax change could discourage even the most prudent manager from investing in an otherwise presently sound and profitable forest practice. This picture suggests that the most important issue in forest taxation for southern forests is neither the rate structure nor form of particular taxes but rather tax stability. |
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