I inherited wooded land from my father four years ago. The property was appraised at that time. The appraiser said the value included the timber; he used sales of other wooded property as "comps" to determine the value of this property. But he didn't break out the value of the timber.

I am planning to sell the timber in the next few months, using a consulting forester to manage the process.

How do I determine the basis for the timber? Can I divide the appraised value between the land itself and the timber? How would I do that? I read about something called a back-dated timber cruise which could be done for this purpose.

If you can tell me how to do this, or point me to other resources or info about it, I'd appreciate it.

Hi Karen:

Your consulting forester should be able to determine the timber basis for you; if he / she can't, then maybe you should consider finding a new consulting forester who can not only mark and market your timber, but also determine your timber basis.

If that isn't an option, then please refer to www.timbertax.org for all information regarding timber tax and timber basis.

Best of luck!

Thanks for your help. Yes, our consulting forester says he can determine the basis for us.