Eligible taxpayer The term eligible taxpayer means any taxpayer which carries on a trade or business of farming livestock or poultry who has an adjusted gross income of less than $900,000. (2) Independent animal welfare certification The term independent animal welfare certification means a certification issued pursuant to a value-added certification program which has been approved by the Secretary of Agriculture as meeting each of the following requirements: (A) Such program uses qualified, independent, on-farm auditors to assess, at least once in a 15 month period, a producer’s compliance with specific farm animal welfare standards. (B) Such program uses a certification protocol and standards that are publicly available. (C) The standards used in such program exceed conventional industry standards, based on industry guidelines published by animal trade associations, prohibit routine caging, crating, and tethering of animals, and include, at a minimum, provisions for daily free access to an outdoor vegetated range area for a majority of animals’ lives, indoor and outdoor space allowance, environmental enrichment, ability to engage in natural behaviors, pain control and physical alterations, animal handling and transport, and responsible antibiotic use. (D) The auditors used in such program have no vested or financial interest in audit outcomes and possess a background in animal welfare science, or have received equivalent training, and are able to recognize and apply established farm animal welfare standards and protocols. (E) Such program requires producers to comply with 100 percent of standards to receive certification. (d) Recapture (1) In general In the case of any taxpayer with respect to which a credit of $75,000 or more is determined under this section for any taxable year and which ceases to be in compliance with an independent animal welfare certification at any time during the recapture period, the taxpayer may be subject to recapture of some or all of the credit, at the discretion of the Internal