Farmers now are eligible for a tax credit when they donate food to a registered charity, B.C. Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick announced Thursday 25 February.
British Columbia becomes the third province in Canada to offer a tax incentive to farmers who donate to programs helping the needy.
“The Farmers’ Food Donation Tax Credit connects the sector with local registered charities, and as a result we all benefit,” Letnick said at the unveiling of the program Thursday at the east Vancouver warehouse of the Greater Vancouver Food Bank.
The tax credit is available to individuals and corporations that are in the farm business and donate the goods to a registered charity.
Farmers who work in B.C. harvesting products such as vegetables, fruit, nuts and others are eligible.
The credit is worth 25 per cent of the fair market value of the agricultural product and it has to be claimed in the same year as the donation.
