TITLE 63

REVENUE AND TAXATION

CHAPTER 17

TAXATION OF FOREST LANDS AND FOREST PRODUCTS

63-1706.  Yield tax on applicable forest products. (1) All forest lands designated by the owner to be subject to the provisions of section 63-1703(b), Idaho Code, shall be appraised, assessed and taxed according to the provisions of this section.

(2)  Forest lands held in private ownership and designated by the owner to be subject to the provisions of this section for property taxation shall be valued by the county assessor as real property at rates which reflect only bare forest land value as determined under rules of the state tax commission.

(3)  All timber severed from lands subject to the provisions of this section and delivered to a point of utilization as logs or semiprocessed forest products shall be subject to a forest products yield tax. This yield tax is in lieu of and replacement for, and not in addition to, property taxes on timber.

(4)  The yield tax rate shall be three percent (3%) of stumpage value as determined by the state tax commission. In establishing stumpage values, the state tax commission shall:

(a)  Divide the state into appropriate stumpage value zones, with each zone designated so as to recognize the uniqueness of timber marketing areas.

(b)  By November 1, set stumpage values by zone for each species and/or product for use in the reporting and payment of yield taxes for timber severed during the following calendar year. Stumpage values shall be based on a five (5) year rolling average value of comparable timber harvested from state timber sales within the stumpage value zone and/or the best available data for the same five (5) year period.

(5)  Report and payment of yield taxes become the direct liability and responsibility of the landowner at the time of severance. At the time of severance the yield taxes become a perpetual lien on the real and personal property of the landowner. Yield tax amounts shall be calculated by the county assessor on forms prescribed by the state tax commission. Yield tax amounts shall be supplied by the county assessor to the county tax collector on or before November 15 for timber that was severed from January 1 through June 30. The county tax collector shall, by the fourth Monday in November, notify the landowner of any such yield tax amount with payments due and payable on or before December 20. If the taxes due for said period are not paid on or before December 20, the payment becomes delinquent and subject to late charges and interest in the amount provided in sections 63-201 and 63-1001 or 63-904, Idaho Code, calculated from the following January 1. Yield tax amounts shall be supplied by the county assessor to the county tax collector on or before May 15 for timber severed from July 1 through December 31 in the year following severance. The county tax collector shall, by the fourth Monday in May, notify the landowner of any such yield tax amount with payments due on or before June 20 in the year following severance. If the yield taxes due for said period are not paid on or before June 20, the payment becomes delinquent and subject to late charges and interest in the amount provided in sections 63-201 and 63-1001 or 63-904, Idaho Code, calculated from the following July 1. Delinquent yield taxes shall remain a lien against the land from which the timber was harvested and against any other real and personal property of the landowner who owned the land at the time of severance. To collect delinquent yield taxes, the treasurer may use either the personal or real property collection procedures provided in title 63, Idaho Code.

(6)  All yield tax revenues and any late charges or interest thereon shall be apportioned among the several county funds and taxing districts as provided for the apportionment of property taxes.

(7)  The party utilizing logs or semiprocessed forest products as raw materials shall be required to report the quantity, species and source of all such materials to the Idaho department of lands. Such report shall be structured to comply with and act as a simultaneous report of data already required under the provisions of section 38-122, Idaho Code. The report format shall include the identification of the forest landowner at the source, legal description of the source, timber or product owner at time of severance, harvester and volume of forest products severed. The Idaho department of lands shall deliver to the various county assessors without fee, copies of these reports as they are available. In the event the point of utilization lies out of the state or a report is not required under the provisions of section 38-122, Idaho Code, the timber owner at time of severance shall be responsible for the reporting of the above-stated data to the department of lands.

(8)  If reports required by this section are found to be intentionally false or when appropriate reports are not made, the assessor shall value the forest crop harvested, based on the best available estimates.

(9)  Not reporting timber or forest products delivery or receipt as required by this section shall be deemed a misdemeanor.

(10) Buildings and other improvements, other than roads, located on forest lands shall be appraised, assessed and taxed as provided by applicable law and rules.

History:

[63-1706, added 1982, ch. 123, sec. 5, p. 354; am. 1987, ch. 205, sec. 1, p. 432; am. 1994, ch. 370, sec. 3, p. 1192; am. 1996, ch. 98, sec. 17, p. 398; am. 1996, ch. 132, sec. 1, p. 455; am. 1997, ch. 117, sec. 38, p. 334; am. 2014, ch. 77, sec. 3, p. 204.]