Government Approves Writeoffs for 2017-18

Government is writing off $9.3 million in unpaid or uncollected debts this year, the lowest amount the province has seen in eight years.

Writeoffs are a routine and necessary accounting practise for private and public operations. Debts are written off annually when it is determined they are unlikely to be paid due to reasons such as personal or commercial bankruptcy, death of the debtor, or property foreclosure. Government will continue debt collection efforts where possible.

The 2017-18 writeoffs, as of March 31, are 38 per cent lower than last year’s $15.2 million writeoff. They include uncollectable loans, fees and fines in the departments of Agriculture, Business, Community Services, Health and Wellness, Justice, Labour and Advanced Education, Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal and the Office of Service Nova Scotia.

As provisions for these debts were made in previous fiscal years these writeoffs will have no impact on departmental budgets or Nova Scotia’s bottom-line in 2017-18.

A more detailed summary of the approved writeoffs is available at http://www.novascotia.ca/finance .

Source: Release