2024 Livestock Tax Deferral Regions Announced

In a news release on June 14, 2024, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada announced an early list of regions eligible for the Livestock Tax Deferral provision for 2024, to provide producers with more security heading into the summer months. This list includes Saddle Hills County. 

The Livestock Tax Deferral provision allows livestock producers in certain areas who are forced to sell all or part of their breeding herd due to drought, flooding, or excess moisture, to defer a portion of their income from sales until the following tax year. The income may be partially offset by the cost of purchasing new breeding animals, therefore; reducing the tax burden associated with the original sale. To defer income under the Livestock Tax Deferral provision, the breeding herd must have been reduced by at least 15%.

This year, the Government of Canada has streamlined the process to identify regions earlier in the growing season, and also instituted a buffer zone to adjacent regions to capture impacted producers on the edges of affected regions. Weather, climate, and production data from across Canada will continue to be monitored throughout the remainder of the season, and regions will be added to the list when they meet the criteria. Using this preliminary data, some regions are likely to recover forage capacity based on actual conditions later in the growing season. However, once a region is prescribed, it will remain eligible for the deferral for the taxation year.

For more information, visit agriculture.canada.ca/en/agricultural-production/weather/livestock-tax-deferral-provision