Saskatchewan ag groups have weighed in on the PST debate in the province.
Amendments to the Provincial Sales Tax (PST) regulations will offer more clarity to farmers and help ensure that PST is applied fairly and consistently to farming and agricultural goods and services, say government officials.
Effective April 1st, new PST exemptions were made through regulation changes. These exemptions include prefabricated wind breaker panels for use in the protection and handling of livestock, insulators for electrified livestock fences as well as:
- certain farm equipment attached to a registered vehicle
- on-farm dugout excavation and for trenching (in specific circumstances related to farming)
Also, some products are exempt from PST retroactive to April 1st, 2016 including water storage tanks used in spraying or irrigating crops, storage tanks for weed control chemicals, insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, liquid fertilizer as well as:
- adjuvants that improve their efficacy or applicationÂ
- portable seed cleaners used on-farm by farmers in preparing their crop for storage or market (farmers in the business of seed cleaning must pay PST on their seed cleaning equipment)
- farm tractorsÂ
“While inflation and operating costs have been rising the last couple of years, cattle producers, and all farmers, simply cannot pass along higher costs including taxes,” says Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association Chair Arnold Balicki.
The estimated, annual cost of these changes is about $1 million.
“The recognition of this by the Government of Saskatchewan when it comes to PST on several important farm related goods and activities is appreciated by Saskatchewan’s cattle producers. Keeping this tax out of the industry helps keep it on a level and fair playing field, making us more competitive in the long run,” adds Balicki.