The annually updated National Standard Costs (NSC) are used by taxpayers who have elected to use this method to value their livestock on hand.
The NSC value of an animal is calculated based on its cumulative costs and an adjustment for sales and purchases.
The calculation is straightforward for livestock born on the farm within the tax year, provided you haven’t also purchased livestock of the same class during the year.
Livestock over one year old need to have their past values accumulated at the relevant class rates, using this year’s values.
For example, an R2 Dairy Heifer’s value would be calculated by summing the R2 Dairy Heifer value from the National Standard Costs 2025 chart, plus the R1 Dairy Heifer value from the National Standard Costs 2024 chart (you can find our blog post with this linked below).
Purchases of stock must be accounted for using a weighted average cost method across that class of livestock. This is a specialised calculation, and it’s easy to get it wrong.
Fortunately these complex calculations what we’re good at! So please get in contact if you need assistance.
National Standard Costs 2025