Schedule FAF: Farming and Fisheries Credit (2025)
Massachusetts · Massachusetts DOR · Used for tax years 2025
Massachusetts Schedule FAF calculates the 2025 Farming and Fisheries Credit for personal income taxpayers primarily engaged in agriculture, farming or commercial fishing. It reports the credit for qualifying property, the amount allowable on the return and unused credit available
Who files this form
Schedule FAF is for personal income taxpayers who are primarily engaged in agriculture, farming or commercial fishing and are claiming the Farming and Fisheries Credit.
You must include Schedule FAF with your Massachusetts tax return to claim the credit. Complete a separate schedule for each type of business.
What you'll need
Have the following information available to complete Schedule FAF:
- Your name as shown on your Massachusetts return, Social Security number(s), street address and business type.
- A description of the property, or its address if it is real property.
- The cost or other federal income tax basis of qualifying property acquired, constructed or erected during 2025.
- For leased property, the lessor’s adjusted basis at the beginning of the lease term, the number of days leased during the tax year and the number of days in the property’s useful life.
- Your 2024 Schedule FAF if you have unused credits from prior years.
- Your Massachusetts Form 1, Form 1-NR/PY or Form 2, including the tax and credit amounts needed for Part 3.
You will also need Schedule CMS to report the allowable credit.
How to file
- Enter your identifying and property information. Select one business type per schedule.
- Complete Part 1 for qualifying property acquired, constructed or erected during 2025. Multiply the qualifying amount by 3%.
- If you are a lessor or lessee, mark the applicable oval, skip Part 1 and complete Part 2. Lessors should review the eligibility rules in the schedule’s instructions.
- Complete Part 3 to calculate the credit allowed on your return. Enter the smaller of Part 3, lines 3 and 4 on line 5 and on Schedule CMS.
- Complete the unused-credit carryover table if Part 3, line 3 exceeds line 5, or if you have unused credits from prior years.
- Include Schedule FAF with your tax return.
The supplied text does not give a mailing address or e-filing instructions.
Common mistakes
- Leaving Schedule FAF out of your return. The form warns that this will cause the credit to be disallowed and your reported tax to be adjusted.
- Selecting both business types on one schedule. Fill in only one oval and use a separate schedule for each business type.
- Entering a PO box. The address field says not to use a PO box.
- Completing Part 1 as a lessor or lessee. Mark the applicable oval, skip Part 1 and complete Part 2.
- Stopping after Part 1 or Part 2. Both parts remind you to complete Part 3.
- Using too few decimal places in Part 2. Carry the division on line 5 to six places.
Questions people ask
How much is the credit?
The credit is 3% of the cost or other federal income tax basis of qualifying property acquired, constructed or erected during the tax year. Leased property uses a separate calculation.
What property qualifies?
Qualifying property includes tangible personal property and other tangible property, including buildings and their structural components. It must be located in Massachusetts, used solely in farming, agriculture or fishing, and depreciable with a useful life of at least four years.
Can a lessee or lessor claim the credit?
A lessee’s credit is 3% of the lessor’s adjusted federal tax basis at the beginning of the lease term, multiplied by the days leased during the tax year divided by the days in the property’s useful life. When the lessee is eligible, the lessor generally is not. The instructions provide an exception for equine-based businesses where horse care and boarding are part of the agricultural activity.
What happens if the credit is larger than my tax liability?
The unused balance may be carried forward. An unused portion of the original credit, reduced as it is used, may be carried over for up to three subsequent tax years.
What if I dispose of the property or stop using it for a qualifying purpose?
If this happens before the end of the property’s useful life, the difference between the credit taken and the credit allowed for actual use must be added back as additional taxes due in the year of disposition. This does not apply if the property has been in qualified use for more than 12 years.