Tax relief under the Loudoun County Land Use Program

[Ben van der Walt]

I am new to beekeeping and would like to know if there are any tax benefits in being a beekeepers. I was told the other day by a friend that it is possible to get property tax relief. Can you guys give me any info on what the requirements (for example minimum acres, number of hives etc. ) are to qualify for tax relief. I were not able to get much info on the Loudoun County website, so I am not getting my hopes up. I enjoy my bees and if I can get a tax relief, what a bonus. 

Thanks for any help.

[Desi Crouther]

Hi, Ben:

Here's a site that hopefully will address your questions: https://www.loudoun.gov/landuse.

Congratulations on becoming a beekeeper.

Regards,

Desi

[Ben van der Walt]

Thanks Desi. I went to the same web page and did not see anything specific to bees or beekeeping, but I will give them a call.

[Ben van der Walt]

Just called the Loudoun County Office, they say you need 5+ acres to qualify.

[Kristina]

You also need to make $1000/per year and have at least two hives. With two hives though you'll never make $1000. And if you ever stop beekeeping you land is still in land use. If you stop making money with bees (agriculture) you will have to pay rollback taxes for the last seven years (I think) unless you have another agricultural income of $1000/year at least.

[Ben van der Walt]

This is exactly the kind of information I needed to put things in perspective. Thanks Kristina! I think I will consume my own honey hopefully next year and will leave the tax man out of it.

[Donna and Mike Kropotkin]

On 6/20/2018 at 2:18 PM, Kristina said:

You also need to make $1000/per year and have at least two hives. With two hives though you'll never make $1000. And if you ever stop beekeeping you land is still in land use. If you stop making money with bees (agriculture) you will have to pay rollback taxes for the last seven years (I think) unless you have another agricultural income of $1000/year at least.

Worse yet, you pay 10%, 20%, 30%, etc penalties for each year looking backwards. Definitely not a good move for a casual, or small capacity, beekeeper.

[Peter Guarino]

Hi Ben

It depends on the amount land you have and if the discount seems worth the work involve to obtain it. We have 10 acres which at the time 10 years ago was enough to go into open space land use. This didn't require any agricultural work on the property just a commitment to not develop the land. We have save a fair amount tax wise doing this for the ten years. I added the bee s a few years back because it we retire here I will go further into land use. The agricultural discounts is more than the open space. Don't forget you can also have someone take hay off the property for more income. Our hay output alone would allow the discount. I would go down the county building and talk with them they are very easy to obtain information from at least when we did it years back they were. The five acres can't include your land used for the house and living.

Good Luck Peter

[Kristina]

FYI

[Marko]

I am not familiar with what qualifies as open space for agricultural use. “Not developing” the land was mentioned in some comments. Does that mean a condo community could not set up beehives and get the tax benefit? 

For example, I live in a ~9 acre condo community with most of the land occupied by buildings. Can this property have hives under the Loudoun land use guidelines? 

I imagine I will have to go down to the County office, but sounds like there are some experienced people here.