(Alice McFarlane/farmnewsNOW Staff)

By Alice McFarlane

Livestock Tax Deferral

Many Saskatchewan livestock producers eligible for deferrals

Jul 22, 2019 | 2:32 PM

The federal government has released a list of regions where the livestock tax deferral has been authorized due to extreme weather conditions.

Officials say producers are encountering significant shortages of livestock feed and the deferral allows them to defer a portion of this year’s sale proceeds of breeding livestock until next year to help replenish their herds.

In Saskatchewan, the designated tax deferral area includes the southern two-thirds of the entire grain belt or roughly 251 of 296 rural municipalities.

Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association (SCA) CEO Ryder Lee said this has been a priority for the group.

“Part of the SCA’s advocacy has been to make this decision come out a lot faster so producers making hard decisions about their herd size know that this tool is part of it,” Lee said. “We’ve also been trying to get this to be an individual election so your own business management process.”

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Lee said producers can use this tax deferral tool to get through a challenging time due to weather.

“There’s some people who usually sell yearlings. They sold yearlings earlier this year and probably will have to sell some calves this year. So, they’re looking at selling two crops in one year and next year not having that,” Lee said. “How do you manage your income for that reality? There’s still work to be done on making this work better but I’m sure glad to see this announcement now. It used to happen in February when everything was already done.”

The cost of replacing the animals in 2020 will offset the deferred income and reduce the tax burden associated with the original sale.

Producers who qualify are experiencing forage shortfalls of 50 per cent or more due to drought or excess moisture.

Parts of the Prairies, British Columbia and Quebec are included in the tax deferral.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF