If your coop engages in the sale of petroleum products, the following items may be necessary: Retail Diesel Fuel Pump Stickers; Acceptable payment methods for tax exempt fuel; Federal Fuel Exemptions; Form 637 – Application for Registration (For Certain Excise Tax Activities).

As we all know, the 50% bonus depreciation for qualifying assets ended December 31, 2013 and the higher expensing limits under section 179 sunset with your 2013 tax year. It is now possible that lawmakers will approve a retroactive application of bonus depreciation back to January 1, 2014 and that the higher limits of section 179 will be reinstated as well. A leading publication expressed the opinion that firms are safe making their remaining asset acquisition plans for 2014 based on these assumptions. So at this point it is not certain if this will be passed but this info is the latest available.

To continue to reflect on the last 50 years Gardiner Thomsen has been in business, we would like to feature another one of our longest standing managers. Jim Carlson with First Coop has been working with Gardiner Thomsen for many years and we have been fortunate to develop a strong relationship with him.

By definition, an involuntary conversion is a mandatory liquidation of assets (such as a loss due to fire, wind, flooding, or tornado). The lost property is normally replaced by another asset, such as cash from insurance proceeds. According to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), the difference between the value of the asset lost (property) and the value of the asset received (cash) is recognized in financial statements as a gain or loss. An involuntary conversion, and the resulting gain or loss, is considered to have occurred even if an entity reinvests the monetary assets with non monetary replacement assets.

Because of this we have seen a polarizing affect to the format of the meetings...It is held really as a formality; having conducted the board elections by mail ballots prior to the meeting. There are still a large number though, that hold a meeting in the “cooperative spirit”, providing a meal and discussing past operations and future plans.

As we start into 2014, it looks like the current climate is one where we are going to start to see merger conversations ramp up. There appears to be several reasons why these mergers are happening (or why discussions are ensuing). Amongst them are: