If you are in the business of farming, you can choose to currently deduct your expenses for soil or water conservation or for the prevention of erosion of land used in farming. Otherwise, these are capital expenses that must be added to the basis of the land. (See chapter 7 for information on determining basis.) Conservation expenses for land in a foreign country do not qualify for this special treatment.

The deduction cannot be more than 25% of your gross income from farming. See Limit on Deduction, later.

Ordinary and necessary expenses that are otherwise deductible are not soil and water conservation expenses. These include interest and taxes, the cost of periodically clearing brush from productive land, the annual removal of sediment from a drainage ditch, and expenses paid or incurred primarily to produce an agricultural crop that may also conserve soil.

To get the full deduction to which you are entitled, you should maintain your records in a way that will clearly distinguish between your ordinary and necessary farm business expenses and your soil and water conservation expenses.

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