Becoming a farmer is more than just a career; it is a lifestyle choice that often comes with high stress, low profit and labour-intensive realities. Historically, farms have remained in families, with farmers’ kids eventually stepping into their parents’ shoes.
However, times have changed, and many farmers’ kids no longer want the hardships of life on the farm. With changes in farm succession patterns, a vegetable farmer and advocate from Mount Forest, Derryn Shrosbree, argues that Canada’s tax laws on farm succession need to change. Shrosbree is advocating for Section 73(3) of the Income Tax Act to be amended to include nieces and nephews.
Currently, section 73(3) of the Income Tax Act allows farmers to transfer their farm property to their children at a tax-deferred “rollover” value, which defers capital gains tax until the child sells the property. Farm property under the act includes land, buildings, machinery and quotas.
