Livestock producers in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, who faced forage shortfalls due to extreme weather events over the past year, will be allowed to defer tax on their cattle sales for 2014. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz has released a list of designated regions where tax deferrals have been authorized for 2014.
The tax deferral allows eligible producers in designated areas to defer income tax on the sale of their breeding livestock for one year in order to help replenish that stock in the following year.
Proceeds from deferred sales are then included as part of the producer’s income in the next tax year, when those proceeds may be at least partially offset by the cost of replacing their breeding animals.
Extreme weather conditions in 2014, which included drought in British Columbia and Alberta, and excess moisture in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, resulted in significant forage shortages for livestock producers across western Canada.
As a result, some producers are reducing their breeding herds.
