Farmers urged to take a year-round approach to tax planning – but year-end is a good time to get started

By Clint Cameron, Director, Ontario Federation of Agriculture

As farmers, we spend a lot of time thinking ahead — planning for the next crop year, the next livestock cycle, the next equipment purchase, or even the next generation on the farm. But when it comes to taxes, too many of us still treat year-end planning as something we deal with only when December rolls around.

The end of the year is still a good time to review and take stock, but planning really should be happening all year long.

Tax law is not static. It changes at the will of government, and the pace of change has only increased in recent years. The latest federal budget included several updates that directly affect farm businesses, from capital gains rules to investment incentives. If you’re not a tax expert — and most of us aren’t — it’s more important than ever to engage with someone who is.

At the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, where I serve as a member of the board of directors, we recognize that individual farm businesses don’t always have the time or resources to stay on top of every tax change.

That’s why our organization takes an active role in highlighting key updates and helping farmers understand what they mean in practice. Just recently, for example, we partnered with accounting firm MNP to offer a webinar on what the most recent federal budget means on the farm. If you haven’t seen it, I encourage you to visit the OFA website to watch it as it’s a valuable starting point for understanding what’s changed and what you should be thinking about now.

One of the first things farmers need to understand is that not everyone has the same year-end. Some farms operate on a calendar year, while others have a corporate fiscal year that ends at a different time. Knowing which applies to you is critical, because it affects when income is reported, when expenses can be claimed, and when planning decisions need to be made.