Farm Service Agency Taxpayer Outreach Education and Technical Assistance (American Rescue Plan Assistance)
Program Funding
Annual program obligations reported to SAM.gov.
Funded Projects
Examples of what this program has supported.
Program Objective
The American Rescue Plan Act 2021, H.R. 1319, signed into law on March 11, 2021, Section 1003 allocated funding to USDA for this work and leverages FSA’s cooperative agreement authority. This was followed by the August 16, 2022, Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Section 22006 of this law provided additional funding to provide relief for distressed borrowers with certain FSA direct and guaranteed loans and expedited assistance to agricultural operations at risk.
Throughout the pandemic USDA has provided vital support to farmers and ranchers experiencing a variety of hardships from natural disasters to supply chain disruption. Many producers are not aware that receiving funds from USDA through activities such as an EQIP contract, disaster payments, and the pending debt relief legislation payments creates a tax liability for their farm business. Taxpayer education has been a longstanding issue in the agricultural community. USDA frequently works with historically underserved, beginning, and limited resource producers who lack access to legal and certified public accounting services or who are unfamiliar with agricultural accounting best practices. To address these issues the Farm Service Agency (FSA), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is partnering with cooperators to develop and deliver taxpayer education to producers and key stakeholders. These agreements will support the creation of educational ag tax resources for agricultural producers who receive USDA payments.
Eligibility
Eligible Applicants
- Other
Applicants and applications must meet eligibility criteria by the application deadline to be considered for award. Applicant entities identified in the SAM.gov exclusions database as ineligible, prohibited/restricted, or excluded from receiving Federal contracts and certain Federal assistance and benefits will not be considered for Federal funding, as applicable to the funding being requested under this Federal program (2 CFR 200.206(d)).
Beneficiaries
- Farmer / Rancher / Agriculture Producer
How to Apply
Award Procedure
The agency seeks to compete funding wherever possible. The agency may choose to award funding noncompetitively when seeking to fund continuing work already started under a previous award, activities that cannot be delayed due to an emergency, work where it is impractical to secure competition, fund unique and innovative unsolicited applications, or other reasons. For competitive awards, additional specific award procedures may be outlined in individual Notices of Funding Opportunities published on Grants.gov. However, procedures will generally follow the steps set out here. Once funding decisions are made, the agency may contact individual applicants to clarify certain components of their applications. Merit/technical reviews of all applications will be conducted by a technical review board nominated by the approving official. Risk reviews will be conducted by the FPAC Business Center, Grants and Agreements Division. The approving official will make the final award decisions. The approving official for this opportunity is the FSA Associate Administrator. Reviews will be conducted in a multi-phase process in which an interagency staff panel from FPAC agencies will make recommendations to the approving official. Interagency reviewers will be selected based upon knowledge, skills, training, and experience in relevant fields.
Decision Timeline
- Approval: From 60 to 90 days
Program details & compliance
Description
FSA has established a national Farm Tax Education and Asset Protection Initiative. This initiative is providing educational materials and resources to farmers and service providers regarding ag taxes. These materials will be created by ag tax experts through cooperative agreements. By connecting tax experts to USDA’s larger stakeholder and producer network and program staff we are creating important educational opportunities and responding to producers’ and taxpayers’ needs in real time. This initiative not only helps producers understand the relationship between their taxes and USDA program payments but also provides key stakeholders such as farm financial educators, Extension staff, lenders, and tax preparers with timely and valuable information regarding the tax implications of USDA programs.
Mission Categories
Primary: Production and Operation
Use of Funds
Allowed Uses
Except as otherwise indicated in specific Notices of Funding Opportunities under the program, assistance funds may be used for project costs in accordance with 2 CFR 200, Subpart E – Cost Principles. Funds are intended to provide outreach, mediation, financial training, capacity building training, cooperative development training and support, and other technical assistance on issues concerning food, agriculture, agricultural credit, agricultural extension, rural development, or nutrition to socially disadvantaged farmers, ranchers, or forest landowners, or other members of socially disadvantaged groups.
Restrictions
Unallowable costs are outlined in 2CFR-200.
Required Documentation
Each applicant (unless excepted under 2 CFR § 25.110(b) or (c), or has an exception approved by the Federal awarding agency under 2 CFR § 25.110(d)) is required to: (i) Be registered in SAM.gov before submitting its application; (ii) Provide a valid UEI number in its application; and (iii) Continue to maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times during which it has an active Federal award or an application or plan under consideration by a Federal awarding agency. It also must state that the Federal awarding agency may not make a Federal award to an applicant until the applicant has complied with all applicable UEI and SAM requirements and, if an applicant has not fully complied with the requirements by the time the Federal awarding agency is ready to make a Federal award, the Federal awarding agency may determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive a Federal award and use that determination as a basis for making a Federal award to another applicant. Applicant entities identified in the SAM.gov exclusions database as ineligible, prohibited/restricted, or excluded from receiving Federal contracts and certain Federal assistance and benefits will not be considered for Federal funding, as applicable to the funding being requested under this Federal program (2 CFR 200.206(d)). Applicants must also furnish the information required in the Notices of Funding Opportunities (NFO) associated with this assistance listing and published on Grants.gov.
2 CFR 200, Subpart E - Cost Principles applies to this program.
Reporting & Compliance
Applicable 2 CFR 200 Subparts
- Subpart B — General Provisions
- Subpart C — Pre-Federal Award Requirements
- Subpart D — Post-Federal Award Requirements
- Subpart E — Cost Principles
- Subpart F — Audit Requirements