Alberta barley growers’ checkoff dollars will generate a little less of a tax writeoff on their 2009 tax returns.

The Alberta Barley Commission, which oversees the collection and distribution of the barley checkoff from growers in that province, has pegged the percentage of the 2009 checkoff eligible for a federal scientific research and experimental development (SR+ED) tax credit at 23 per cent.

That’s down from 37 per cent eligibility for Alberta growers in the 2008 tax year, and down from 76 per cent for barley growers in Saskatchewan and Manitoba for the 2009 tax year, from their checkoffs paid to the Western Grains Research Foundation.

An Alberta barley grower who paid into the barley commission’s checkoff can thus claim 23 per cent of his or her barley checkoff for the 2009 tax year at a rate of 20 per cent for individuals or 35 per cent for Canadian-controlled private corporations.

For example, an Alberta grower who paid $300 in barley checkoffs in 2009 would calculate the eligible amount at 23 per cent of $300, or $69. If filing as an individual, he or she would get 20 per cent of that $69, or $13.80, as an SR+ED tax credit. The same farmer, filing as a corporation, would get an SR+ED tax credit of $24.15.