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Better Farming Ontario Featured Articles

Better Farming Ontario magazine is published 11 times per year. After each edition is published, we share featured articles online.


The billion-dollar tax dodge on tobacco

Sunday, March 3, 2013

According to numbers acquired through a Canadian Taxpayer's Federation (CTF) Freedom of Information request to the federal government, Status Indians in Ontario purchased the equivalent of 70 cigarettes daily per person last year, along with 1,000 cigars annually. The fact that they don't smoke that much points towards a tax dodge by non-status buyers of between $742 million and $1.2 billion, just from contraband cigarettes in Ontario.

The CTF estimates that up to 79 per cent of all tax-free cigarettes intended for legal sale to Status Indians are illegally sold to those who are not, dodging $5.24 a pack in taxes.

Fred Neukamm, chair of the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers Marketing Board, allows that the contraband cigarettes may have been grown outside of the system. This year's legal crop is likely to be up somewhat from slightly more than 50 million pounds in 2012 because of increased demand from China. BF

Current Issue

May 2025

Better Farming Magazine

Farms.com Breaking News

Mother’s Day Q&A with Anna McCutcheon

Thursday, May 8, 2025

Mother’s Day is only a few days away (that’s another reminder), and this week Farms.com has connected with moms in ag for their thoughts on motherhood, its challenges, and how being a parent has changed them. Anna McCutcheon (AM) and her husband Mark are the first generation on their... Read this article online

Creating Safe Farms for Kids

Wednesday, May 7, 2025

The Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA) is hosting the second annual Kids FarmSafe Week from May 12 to 18, with the theme “Nurturing the Future of Agriculture.” The initiative aims to raise awareness about health and safety risks for children and youth on farms. According... Read this article online

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