Washington

Who wouldn't want to give farmers a tax break? After all, the farming community is the salt of the earth. If anyone deserves a break from state tax collectors, it's them.

Unfortunately, the task is not as easy as, for instance, simply giving farmers a break from taxes on replacement parts purchases. Today's Yakima-Herald Republic shows that the devil is in the details.

John Riel, owner of Burrows Tractor in Yakima, said farmers are chewing over the topic at the coffee shop.

"People know about it but they're confused about it so a lot of guys haven't done anything," Riel said. "They don't understand why parts for your tractor are exempt but not your four-wheeler that you pull apples through an orchard with."

According to Gowrylow, the law specifically excludes parts for four-wheelers and lawn mowers from the definitions of what is exempt.

"It is true that farmers use these for farming purposes, but they also can be used for recreational activities, and the Legislature chose to exclude them from the exemption," he said.
Hop farmers are confused about whether stationary picking machines are eligible, Riel said. And others don't understand why an oil filter is exempt but a grease tube is not.

JoAnne Gordon, tax policy specialty with the revenue department's legislative and policy division, asked for a little patience while the law gets up and running.

"We aren't farmers so we need folks to explain some of these things," Gordon said.
The department has determined that parts for hop kilns are eligible for the sales-tax exemption.

But oil, grease, paint and anti-freeze aren't because they are consumable, not parts, she said.
And really, the department is here to help, she said.

"The bottom line is that the Legislature is very concerned about farmers and their ability to keep farming and that's why they took a good long look at the issue this last session."

With all due respect, JoAnne, shouldn't the burden be on your office to explain the distinctions you made up? Your consumption reasoning makes little sense and if you really wanted to help farmers you would give them a break on the items that they purchase on a consistent basis: oil, grease, anti-freeze, etc.

My guess is that whoever is in power right now will take credit for helping the farming community when it is election time. The farmers will be up in arms because they will know few of them were able to take advantage of the tax breaks. This won't matter, however, as farmers do not make up a significant portion of the electorate. What matters is that it appears that you helped the farmers and that the majority of the voting public sees it as such.