Discussions

Farm Education Tax Rebate  
Just found out and have proof that with the changes the government made to the Farm Tax Rebate Program is that you no longer have to Be a Manitoba resident to collect the Manitoba Farm Tax Rebate. Setup now for people who are not Manitoba residents who own Manitoba Farm property out of Province to cash in on the Manitoba Farm Tax Rebate. You’ll even get the cheque mailed to you out of province home.  
This is not good at all I’m thinking!

Was not aware that this was the case but it kind of makes sense. A property owner living out of province probably doesn’t have kids in the Manitoba education system. Also there is a cap preventing larger landowners from receiving education tax rebates over a certain amount.  
In fairness I can’t think of a farm within a ten mile radius of our farm that has any kids in the education system. Maybe the question needs to be considered whether landowners share of education taxes should be further reduced and that tax burden placed onto urban residents instead. FWIW I live in town with my family so I pay education taxes twice (although we do receive the rebate on some of our farmland portion).  
 
Edited by Farmergeorge, 2021-09-30 14:02:21

Anyone who pays taxes should be contributing to education, whether they have kids or not. That is 100% irrelevant. This “I got mine” attitude is so wrong. Kids are the future and their educations deserve to be funded by tax payers. We owe it to them.

I do agree 100% Everyone should pay the Education Tax portion what I don’t agree with is Out of Province Land owners as of this year getting a MB tax rebate. That should not be allowed as it comes from the Manitoba tax payer purse. I’m thinking it was put in place so cheques could be easily sent to Costa Rica without a hiccup and as well an added bonus for out of province people to scoop up Farm land. Portage la prairie is got some of the richest farm land in the world. Just saying!

The education tax rebate does not come out of the Manitoba tax payers purse. The landowner pays the education tax in the first place and a portion of that tax paid on farm land is then rebated back to the landowner IF the land owner claims it back. There is a maximum amount that any landowner can claim so large landowners pay more into the system. Being a small farm we do reclaim our allocation back each year but we fall way below the maximum cap. The rebate is very important to our bottom line as a small business.  
One change for the better this year is that a portion of the education tax has not been charged in the first place when property taxes are paid which saves a pointless paperwork exercise, this portion technically was credited when the invoice was issued. This may vary by municipality, I’m not sure.  
Contrary to popular misconception it is difficult enough and getting harder to make money from farming land, it requires huge personal and financial investment, strong commitment, ability to manage large risks and most landowners are far from wealthy people at least in cash terms.  
Education tax is still owed and paid on the residential portion of farm land.  
I agree that everyone has a stake in education and the future of our kids. However I also believe that this should be proportionate and the fact is that there are fewer families living and raising children in rural areas. Land owners should not be penalized. It is unreasonable to expect a landowner with no children to pay more towards education than a family for example raising six children.  
Whether a landowner is resident in Manitoba or not is really irrelevant. They still invested in land here and pay property and education taxes due. It would make no sense for them to be exempted from rebates available.  
For anyone that cares we are Manitoba residents and the economic spin offs into the wider economy and local community even from our small family business is sizeable.  
 
Edited by Farmergeorge, 2021-10-01 00:11:50

FarmerGeorge, the amount of kids a person has is irrelevant. When you’re old, collecting CPP, I’m sure you will want there to be doctors available to help you. Or no? The previous generation paid for your education, now it’s your turn.  
 
The idea that because someone has no kids that they should be able to “tap out” of the social duty of paying into education is wrong. They (the people with no kids) will benefit from an educated society.  
 
If the dollars are all you care about, think about it as being the best investment you can make. An educated society pays dividends!

You fail to understand that landowners including myself do pay into the education system, are happy to do so and will continue to do so alongside our many significant contributions to local communities. There is no mention of tapping out , the rebate only returns a portion of the tax paid on land if we choose to reclaim it. You fail to understand that we also pay education tax on our residential portion or home quarter which would be similar to paying the education tax on your home and that is ok and fair. What I do expect is fairness and right now landowners pay a disproportionate amount on the rest of their farmland hence the very real need for farmland school tax rebates.  
I think that you do not understand the system of taxation or the massive contributions made by the agricultural industry in the stability and growth of Canada’s economy. Even the Trudeau government has officially recognized agriculture as a key economic driver and recognizes the importance of a stable Canadian agricultural industry to help in protecting the environment and the fight against human caused climate change .  
 
Edited by Farmergeorge, 2021-10-01 07:36:41

what your saying is that former Premier Brian Pallister brought this rebate into effect solely for the reason his cheque would be sent to hi in Costa Rica?

Farmergeorge, the way you talk it seems like you think farmers are the only people struggling to keep their head above water. Wrong and I resent your comment that you wish the education tax burden should be placed on urban residents only! Until we Manitobans elected the conservative government our tax bills would increase significantly when the school board did their budget.  
 
You should consider your fortunate, being a farmer you have the land to grow crops (to make money), you can have livestock (to make money or better yet to feed your family). So yes farmers can make money off their land, urban residents cannot.  
Don't be suggesting that we in the city need to shoulder funding all the education costs alone.

I never liked that the education tax is directly linked to what you own, rather than what your income is. Income changes over one's lifetime, and taxing a person disproportionately because they bought (or inherited) a nicer house or maintain it's condition, or in the case of a farmer, own a lot of land, never made sense to me.  
With the eventual removal of the education assessment, it will now be linked to income, which is somewhat fairer. As well, I am going to guess that the school boards will now have to make their case for increases to the provincial government, rather than merely increasing the amount each year to their liking and shoving it onto the property owners.

I did not suggest that urban residents alone should pay for education. I said that the amount paid should be more proportionate and fair.  
Also if you bothered to properly read my post you would have noticed that I live in town with my family and our business pays education taxes actually three times, on our home in town, on the residential portion of the farm and finally on our land.  
A little attention to detail and accuracy goes a long way rather than spreading misinformation and manipulation of the truth.  
 
Edited by Farmergeorge, 2021-10-01 09:16:32

Is the rebate a significant amount and does the rebate get taken off your total taxes owed or is it an actual cheque in the mail?

" It is unreasonable to expect a landowner with no children to pay more towards education than a family for example raising six children." - FarmerGeorge  
 
What do you mean by that?

It is an actual cheque in the mail. The education tax credit on my property was reduced from $700 to $525, as well as a small amount on some land I own surrounding my home. I was rebated 25% of the annual education tax, which amounted to $780.  
Renters will see their reduction in the fact that while the owner of the property gets the rebate, the rent increases will be frozen for the next two years to compensate. However, the usual education tax deduction you entered at tax time will be reduced. Go to https://www.gov.mb.ca/edupropertytax/index.html for full details of the program.  
 
Edited by cmp, 2021-10-01 12:38:17

My understanding is the rebate we get on our taxes is being phased out. Currently we get a $700 discount each year. This is going away over the next few years (not sure the exactly time line).  
 
So people may have been excited to receive a cheque in the mail but in reality this decision is costing everyone more money in the end. Down the road your taxes will be $5700 a year instead of $5000 for example.

Ho George, how much do you pay for education tax on your farm house and farm land, and how does that compare to what a typical urban homeowners pays?

Means exactly what it says. It’s simple enough. Why are landowners who place a lesser burden on the education system paying a disproportionate amount. They are simply penalized because they own land and it is unrelated to their income.  
The current farmland education tax rebate goes some way to level up this disparity and sensibly this reduction is now starting to be phased in as a discount at property tax time.

I’ll have to check my accounts but I think our total farmland school tax rebate cheque last year was around $4000. The rebate is a percentage of the total payed so we would have payed significantly more than that in education tax at tax payment time. To our small business that rebate is a lot of money. I think our total property tax bill last year to which this related was around $13500 which takes a lot for us to earn.  
Larger landowners would pay a lot more than us and the rebate was capped at $5000 annually but I believe that the cap was reduced this year so they will receive a smaller percentage back in relative terms.  
 
Edited by Farmergeorge, 2021-10-02 07:25:30

that much in taxes, you just pointed out that by no means are you are poor as you like to say.

you didn't say that urban residents should foot the entire cost for education but you did say... that despite already receiving a rebate on your farmland tax bill you think that you should get even more of a discount and that urban residents need to pay more  
Also I don't have children..... by the way you are talking maybe I shouldn't have to pay school taxes either?  
 
You know what? Sometimes you need to go back and re-read your post. You post stuff and then try to wiggle out of what you say.  
 
Edited by Johnbisonbear, 2021-10-02 09:15:21

How so? It’s a cost of doing business and that is only on a small farm and it’s excessive for the services that we receive. What most people don’t understand is that business running costs are very high and margins often razor thin leaving very little at the end for the operator. This is especially true in agriculture. This year will be much more difficult due to hugely drought reduced yields , producers struggling to fulfill production contracts and associated buyout costs, reduced feed availability and water shortages , the drought looks to extend at the very least into next year and input costs are rising rapidly.  
We ourselves have product to create a feed ration but we are now buying municipal water for our livestock and that won’t come cheap this winter. Livestock inventories will have to be reduced and a lot of guys will be scratching their head to cover costs for putting in a crop next year.

If that’s the case then you should be seeking an income based education tax rather than a property based tax, that would help to level up the disparity.

to know it all about taxing people but if you as a farmer and sitting on a wealth of land maybe that's why the province wants to charge you taxes?

As soon as you sign on the dotted line when purchasing land, your name seems to go on the title. This means the land is yours only in title, but is not clear because of a mortgage, makes no difference to the taxman though, you will be taxed as if it were fully yours.

That logic doesn’t work at all when one considers that I pay property and education taxes on a half section of native pasture and bush that I rent from the Manitoba Government.