A farm succession planner from Ontario has spent the last two years lobbying the federal government to change the Income Tax Act.
Derryn Shrosbree, the CEO and founder of Farm Strong, was talking to producers at Ag in Motion last week about changing Section 73 (3) of the Income Tax Act to allow nieces and nephews to have farm property transferred on a tax-deferred basis, the same way as it is for sons and daughters.
Shrosbree says the hope is the change "will then increase the amount of people wanting to farm" as well as benefit rural communities.
He's encouraged farmers to contact their local M.P.'s about it.
"The more voices out there, the better for us."
The lobbying efforts gained traction on both sides of the aisle in Parliament and the attention of Senator Robert Black and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), he said.
"(Black) stood on the Parliament floor and spoke in open forum about adding nieces and nephews onto the Tax Act. So we were extremely positive and really enthusiastic about that," said Shrosbree.
"We spoke to the CRA. They don't have any objections and thus far, like I said, both sides of the aisle view this as a positive for not only the farming community, but Canada as a whole when it comes to food security and keeping farms in the families and rural communities alive."
Asked if he's run into any opposition, he said none whatsoever.
"Not even the CRA came back and said, 'oh, we're going to lose money.' They're not. They're actually going to gain money from it because it's a deferral. We're not asking for a handout. So actually, it's been extremely well-received."
Give the pace of governments moving forward on changes to legislation, Shrosbree is hoping for a resolution next year, but acknowledged it will take time and isn't sure how the change will look, whether it's brand new moving forward or retroactive to a certain date.
"Sometimes the CRA might write a provision in that they can retroactively go back five years. That's been done before in various jurisdictions and various other legislation that's been passed. We have not gone down that road too far."
(With files from Neil Billinger, CJWW)
