Good afternoon.
The request for a tax accommodation with respect to a niece or nephew expands on an existing provision in the Income Tax Act that allows a parent to transfer farm property to their child without having to declare capital gains. So it facilitates the transfer of family businesses.
Increasingly, however, several families are involved in farm businesses. Let's take the example of two brothers who are co-owners. One brother would like to leave the farm and, since he has no one to take over, he would like to transfer part of his interests by gifting them to his niece or nephew. Under the act, he must declare capital gains, even if he hasn't made any money.
We'd like the existing rule for property transfers between parent and child to also allow transfers to a niece or nephew.