06/28/05 New sales tax exemption on farm equipment

06/28/05 New sales tax exemption on farm equipment

Washington Ag June 28, 2005 This Friday, July 1st, a new sales and use tax exemption for farm equipment used as an alternative to field stubble burning goes into effect. State Senator Mark Shoesler says the new exemption offers more clarity. Schoesler: "The old bill was rather vague and brought a lot of questions up. The new bill is very specific to the equipment, the areas. And I think it is going to have less confusion and less audit problems than we had in the past. And we are working out the details with Revenue now. It is important that Revenue came over and looked at what we have here in the region for equipment. Why we need that equipment. So having those policymakers implement the rules on a bill we passed just last session." Under the new law a farmer must have more than 50 percent of his or her tillable acres in cereal grains or field and turf grasses grown for seed. They must also be located in a qualified county which is one in which at least 15-thousand acres are in the production of cereal grain. Exempted equipment under the new law includes no-till drills, mowers, swathers, balers, bale handlers, shredders, even tractors over 250 horse power used to pull conservation equipment on steep slopes. I'm Bob Hoff.
Previous Report06/27/05 Stripe rust update; apples and Japan
Next Report06/29/05 Wheat Growers urge CAFTA approval