APAS pleased with feds’ decision
By Kate Ayers
Staff Reporter
Farms.com
The federal government announced on Monday that they are not doing away with the cash ticket deferral program for farmers.
Producers will still be able to defer income from grain deliveries to the next tax year, according to yesterday’s Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) release.
In the late fall, some farmers may be in the position to deliver grain but they can’t afford to have that extra income in the current year for income tax purposes, Todd Lewis, APAS president, explained to Farms.com today.
“Typically farmers will defer (income) in situations like that (to) the next year. That has been common practice for a number of years here in western Canada. It is a pretty important management tool for producers,” said Lewis.
The cash deferral program also allows shipping companies and grain elevators to ship grain in a timely fashion. Shipping managers can move grain now instead of waiting until the next crop year, according to Lewis.
The cash ticket deferral program allows grain and oilseed producers to better plan for the uncertainties inherent in the agriculture business,” Lewis said in the release.
“It’s a tool that’s been used by all farms, big and small, over the years. (Cash deferral) doesn’t get used every year but, in those situations that it is necessary, it is a valuable tool,” he explained to Farms.com.
“It’s just a matter of deferring the taxes. … It’s about managing the highs and lows of our cyclical industry.”
APAS thanks Minister MacAulay for keeping the cash deferral program alive. He extended the consultation period on changes to the program until July to accommodate seeding and took producers’ concerns on the issue into consideration.
“We will watch and see how this all plays out but, right now, it looks like we got what we asked for. Hopefully that is actually what happens when farmers are in the position to defer,” said Lewis.