Deadline near for Louisiana farmers to apply for tax breaks

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana's commercial farmers must apply by the end of June if they want to continue receiving certain state sales tax breaks.

Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain is reminding farmers that the certification applications are due ahead of the new law that takes effect with the start of July.

Commercial farmers get state sales tax exemptions on agricultural items such as fuel, feed, seed, fertilizer and livestock pharmaceuticals. But the Louisiana Legislature changed the law to require farmers to be certified to get the tax breaks.

Strain says applicants can obtain the tax form, known as the R-1085, from the Department of Revenue's website and apply online at https://latap.revenue.louisiana.gov .