The Alberta Wheat Commission travelled to Ottawa to meet with Government officials regarding the Liberal's proposed tax changes on September 11 and 12.

Among those at the meeting, was Chair of the Alberta Wheat Commission, Kevin Auch.

The Commission provided a producer prospective on a number of changes which would effect the agricultural industry.

"We had the opportunity to meet with a number of government officials on the Hill where we pointed out that farmers are being unfairly targeted by tax policy that is supposedly designed to close loopholes on the wealthiest Canadians," said Auch. "We addressed the fact that the proposed changes are at odds with the government's mandate to decrease taxes for the middle class, which farmers are very much a part of."

He also pointed out, the government's goal to increase Canada's agri-food exports from $55 billion to $75 billion by 2025, does not align with the changes they are proposing now.

As a producer, Auch says, he and many grain farmers defer checks to the next year to manage their income, but the changes could put a stop to that.

"What will happen is, if I can't defer the check, I will defer the sale. It will go into the next year, and I'll have to have a bin to put that grain into. The grain company, who may have a sale for the quality I have, will be sitting their waiting for my grain, and they may loose the sale. This will effect the whole supply chain if they take the deferred checks away."

There are three major areas of farm management which could be effected by these new changes; A farm's ability to pass down the operation to the next generation without incurring a missive tax bill and their ability to convert capital into income for retiring farmers, changes to the treatment of passive income which would restrict farmer's ability to save up for land and equipment, and the ability to spread income to contributing family members.

Auch says, he thinks they made some progress with the Government officials.

"I don't think they just brushed us aside. I think they are actually taking our advice and going to look at it for sure. I'm assuming that they don't want to cause damage to the industry, so if they can tweak it so it will do what it's intended to do, we'll be happy with that. I got the feeling they were actually listening to us, and that they will try and make things work."

The consultation period for the proposed tax changes ends October 2.


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