If your land is zoned under Farmland Preservation, be sure you or your tax preparer use the appropriate tax forms when claiming income tax credits.

Many landowners are still not using the correct forms, according to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, and that means they’re not getting what they’re entitled to receive.

The Department’s analysis of recent data collected by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue shows that some Wisconsin landowners are under-claiming their Farmland Preservation tax credits at an average rate of about $3 per acre or almost $1 million total.

Farmers are eligible for Wisconsin income tax credits in exchange for keeping land in agricultural use and complying with state soil and water conservation requirements. Preliminary data from the Department of Revenue indicates that more than 15,000 farmland owners collected over $19 million in farmland preservation tax credits in tax year 2011 on about 2.8 million acres of farmland.

It is estimated that more than 2,000 farmland owners statewide under-claimed their farmland preservation tax credits on over 300,000 acres of farmland.