Tax expert hails 20% deduction as golden opportunity for agribusiness investment
A tax advisory specialist is hailing a 20% tax deduction to spur business asset purchases as a golden opportunity for agribusiness.
Tax implications for farmers receiving big Mycoplasma bovis compensation payments is one of the issues farmers are raising in meetings now underway NZ-wide.
The MPI-organised meetings include public and closed-door, day-long sessions with affected farmers, described by one MPI staffer as “robust”.
Speaking to Rural News after the farmers’ session in Ashburton, MPI’s director of response Geoff Gwyn acknowledged some anger from the affected farmers but said it was a “mixed bag”.
“Some farmers are standing up and saying this has been the worst experience of their life and they have real examples of it not having worked well for them,” he conceded.
“Then there’ve been other farmers who say ‘actually this was difficult at the time, but it went quite smoothly for me’.”
Gwyn says one issue not previously considered in any detail was the tax implications for farmers getting compensation. He says MPI’s advice had always been to talk to Inland Revenue. “Farmers are more interested in some sort of formal position by Inland Revenue so I’ll be talking to my IRD colleagues about what we can do in that space.”
Gwyn says their aim in the meetings is to listen to farmers to understand how the experience is affecting them and make the process as easy as possible.
“We receive feedback from the farmers on how this process can be better and we make changes to reflect that. [It may be] how we better support them in welfare and recovery, or how we give them more certainty on testing timeframes, which is difficult,” he told Rural News.
Gwyn told the meeting that everyone involved in the decision to go for eradication knew it was “a bit of a punt”, but it was the only chance the country had.
Holstein Friesian excellence was front and centre at the 2025 Holstein Friesian NZ (HFNZ) Awards, held recently in Invercargill.
The work Fonterra has done with Ballance Agri-Nutrients Ltd, LIC and Ravensdown to save farmers time through better data connections has been recognised with a national award.
This past week has seen another round of negotiations between India and New Zealand to produce a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries.
Cautiously optimistic is how DairyNZ's regional manager for the lower North Island, Mark Laurence describes the mood of farmers in his patch.
The Infrastructure Commission has endorsed a plan by Chorus to expand fibre broadband to 95% of New Zealand much to the delight of rural women.
Questions are being raised about just how good the state of the dairy industry is - especially given that the average farmgate payout for the coming season is set to exceed $10/kgMS.
OPINION: Dust ups between rural media and PR types aren't unheard of but also aren't common, given part of the…
OPINION: The Hound hears from his canine pals in Southland that an individual's derogatory remarks on social media have left…