Three Canadian farm women’s groups are helping Anna Kroeker challenge a federal tax ruling that she is not a farmer.
A government audit of Kroeker and a subsequent tax court ruling in 1999 disallowed losses she had claimed against her off-farm income. She was deemed as not doing sufficient labor on the farm and was classified as someone who would never be able to earn a livelihood from her Swift Current, Sask., area farm.
Her then-husband, who also had an off-farm job, was never audited or reclassified, even though both he and Kroeker contributed labor and money to the farm.
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Groups give support
The National Farmers Union, the Canadian Farm Women’s Network and Reseu des Entreprises Familiales from Quebec are backing Kroeker’s appeal.
They are drafting a funding request to the federal government’s Court Challenges Program, which helps individuals and groups appear before the federal and supreme courts on issues of public interest.
Shannon Storey, the NFU women’s president, said the program has indicated it would favor the request to fund Kroeker’s appeal.
Storey said the three women’s groups are concerned that the tax court ruling incorrectly defined the role a woman plays on a farm.
“It needs to be made clear that just because a woman works off the farm doesn’t mean she is not working for the farm.”
Storey said part of the problem is that the federal government’s agriculture policy assumes farms are supported by the income from one or two off-farm jobs.
However, tax rules do not reflect that policy. Instead, they define a farmer as someone who gets the majority of his or her income from the farm’s operations.
Kroeker’s appeal will be heard in June, likely in federal court in Edmonton or Ottawa.
“It’s wonderful to have support,” she said. ” I appreciate the support. I know it’s an issue that will affect men as well as women.”
