THE GOVERNMENT is looking to close a loophole in the taxation system that allows switching between one livestock valuation system and another.

The 2008/9 season was an annus horribilis for the nation's 11,618 dairy farms. In that season, 11,618 farmers under the Commodities Levy Act paid a levy to the industry good body, DairyNZ. It's considerably fewer than the 17,244 quoted in the Dominion Post yesterday and was not an auspicious start to a piece that has done a great injustice to farmers and to the understanding of basic commerce and accounting.