BRANDON, Man. – The Manitoba government is showing a lot of interest in the idea of keeping provincial sales tax off hog barns and other ventures that add value to crops.
The president of Manitoba’s farm lobby group said he expects the province will soon announce tax exemptions.
“It’s giving us a balanced playing field again with the rest of our provincial neighbors,” said Les Jacobson of Keystone Agricultural Producers.
Alberta does not have a provincial sales tax, and Saskatchewan introduced a rebate on education and health sales taxes for agricultural buildings.
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Some hurt by tax
KAP and other farm groups met with the assistant deputy minister of the finance department on April 11 to explain how farmers wanting to add value to crops by processing them or feeding them to livestock are disadvantaged by the tax.
Stan Puchniak agreed to get a group of farmers and bureaucrats to study the issue.
But Jacobson said the government also needs to rebate the tax for 1997 to make sure investors in value-added projects don’t put their money into projects in Saskatchewan in the meantime.
KAP also asked the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce to join its lobby efforts.
