*** Transcriber's Note: Please set your voice synthesizer to read most punctuation. Areas outlined in red are indicated by three-plus signs at the beginning and at the end. *** Canada Revenue Agency (Front cover) Employers' Guide Taxable Benefits T4130(E) Revision 05 PAGE 2 Do you need more information? If you need more help after you read this publication, visit our Web site at www.cra.gc.ca or call 1-800-959-5525. You can get forms and publications from our Web site at www.cra.gc.ca/forms or by calling 1-800-959-2221. Teletypewriter users If you use a teletypewriter (TTY), you can call our toll-free, bilingual enquiry service at 1-800-665-0354. Our Web site To get the most updated payroll information and products, we invite you to visit our Web site at www.cra.gc.ca/payroll. Electronic mailing lists We can notify you immediately about new information on payroll, electronic filing for businesses, and more. To subscribe, free of charge, visit our Web site at www.cra.gc.ca/lists. Related publications - Payroll Deductions and Remittances (T4001) - Filing the T4 Slip and Summary Form (RC4120) - Deducting Income Tax on Pension and Other Income, and Filing the T4A Slip and Summary Form (RC4157) - Keeping Records (RC4409) Your opinion counts! If you have any comments or suggestions to help us improve the information in this guide, we want to hear from you. Please send your comments to: Client Services Directorate Canada Revenue Agency 750 Heron Road Ottawa ON K1A 0L5 Visually impaired persons can get our publications in braille, large print, or etext (computer diskette), or on audiocassette from our Web site at www.cra.gc.ca/alternate or by calling 1-800-267-1267 weekdays between 8:15 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time). PAGE 3 Table of contents What's new, page 4 Automobile benefits, page 4 Automobile Benefits On-line Calculator, page 4 Worksheet - Calculating Automobile Benefits for 2005, page 4 Chapter 1 - Before you start, page 5 Is this guide for you?, page 5 What are your responsibilities?, page 5 Chapter 2 - Automobile benefits and allowances, page 6 Automobile and motor vehicle benefits, page 6 Calculating automobile benefits, page 6 Benefit for motor vehicles not defined as an automobile, page 9 Payroll deductions, page 9 Reporting automobile benefits on the T4 slip, page 9 Tools to help you calculate the automobile benefit, page 9 Automobile allowances, page 9 Chapter 3 - Other benefits and allowances, page 12 Board and lodging, page 12 Board, lodging, and transportation at special work sites and remote work locations, page 12 Cellular phone service, page 13 Childcare expenses, page 13 Counselling services, page 14 Disability-related employment benefits, page 14 Discounts on merchandise and commissions on sales, page 14 Educational allowances for children, page 14 Gifts, awards, and social events, page 14 Group term life insurance policies - Employer-paid premiums, page 15 Housing - Rent-free and low-rent, page 16 Interest-free and low-interest loans, page 17 Internet, page 19 Medical expenses, page 19 Moving expenses and relocation benefits, page 19 Municipal officer's expense allowance, page 21 Parking, page 21 Premiums under a private health services plan, page 22 Premiums under provincial hospitalization, medical care insurance, and certain Government of Canada plans, page 22 Professional membership dues, page 22 Recreational facilities and club dues, page 22 Registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs), page 23 Security options, page 23 Spouse or common-law partner's travelling expenses, page 25 Subsidized meals, page 25 Subsidized school services, page 25 Tool reimbursement or allowance, page 25 Transportation to and from the job, page 25 Travelling allowance, page 26 Tuition fees, scholarships, and bursaries, page 26 Uniforms and special clothing, page 27 Wage-loss replacement plans or income maintenance plans, page 27 Chapter 4 - Housing and travel assistance benefits paid in a prescribed zone, page 28 Accommodation or utilities provided by the employer, page 28 Board, lodging, and transportation at a special work site, page 28 Travel assistance benefits, page 29 Chapter 5 - Remitting GST/HST on employee benefits, page 31 Employee benefits, page 31 Situations where you are not considered to have collected GST/HST, page 31 When are you considered to have collected GST/HST?, page 31 How do you calculate the amount of GST/HST you are considered to have collected?, page 32 Input tax credits (ITCs), page 32 Property acquired before 1991 or from a non-registrant, page 33 Summary, page 33 Examples, page 34 Benefits chart, page 35 PAGE 4 What's new Automobile benefits Under proposed changes, the definition of an automobile no longer includes certain emergency medical response vehicles. See page 6 for details. Automobile Benefits On-line Calculator This new calculator allows you to calculate the estimated automobile benefit for withholding purposes. Visit our web site at www.cra.gc.ca/autobenefits- calculator. Worksheet - Calculating Automobile Benefits for 2005 The worksheet for calculating automobile benefits is now provided as a separate form, allowing you to request or print numerous copies. You can get Form RC18, Calculating Automobile Benefits for 2005, from our Web site at www.cra.gc.ca/autobenefits-calculator or by calling 1-800-959-2221. PAGE 5 Chapter 1 - Before you start There are many types of benefits and allowances that you may have to include in an employee's income. Whether or not they are taxable depends on the type of benefit or allowance and the reason an employee or officer receives it. Add the taxable benefits and allowances to the employee's income each pay period to determine the total amount that is subject to source deductions. Is this guide for you? Use this guide if you are an employer providing benefits or allowances to your employees such as: - automobile benefits; - housing, board, and lodging; - housing and travel assistance in a prescribed zone; - interest-free or low-interest loans; - group term life insurance policies; or - tuition fees. The instructions in this guide mainly apply to employers. However, we also provide certain guidelines for trustees, administrators, corporate directors, and third-party payers providing benefits to employees of another employer. What are your responsibilities? Pensionable earnings Taxable benefits and allowances are generally pensionable and, therefore, subject to Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contributions, regardless of whether they are in cash or non-cash benefits. However, if the non-cash benefit is the only form of income received by the employee, you are not required to withhold CPP on the amount of the benefit even if the value of the benefit is pensionable. Insurable earnings Taxable benefits in cash and taxable allowances are generally insurable earnings and, therefore, subject to Employment Insurance (EI) premiums. However, non-cash taxable benefits are not insurable for EI purposes, except for the value of board and lodging enjoyed by an employee in a period during which you pay the employee cash earnings. Employer-paid RRSP contributions are insurable unless the employee cannot withdraw the amounts. For more information, see "Registered retirement savings plans (RRSPS)" on page 23. If the employment is not insurable under the Employment Insurance Act, taxable allowances as well as taxable benefits in cash and non-cash are not insurable earnings and, therefore, not subject to EI premiums. Tax deductions Where a non-cash benefit is received in addition to salary and wages, you have to include the value of this benefit in the employee's gross income and withhold tax in the normal manner. Reporting benefits and allowances You must report taxable benefits and allowances on a T4 slip in box 14, "Employment income," and enter code 40 with the amount of the benefit plus the applicable GST/HST in the "Other information" area unless we tell you to use a different code. If you are a third-party payer providing taxable benefits to employees of another employer, you must report them on a T4A slip in box 28, "Other income." If a benefit or allowance described in this guide is non-pensionable, non- insurable, and non-taxable, do not report it. Goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax The taxable benefits you include in the employment income of your employees for income tax purposes normally include an amount for goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax (GST/HST) and provincial sales tax (PST). The benefit should include the tax payable by you or the tax you reimburse to your employees, as well as the tax that would have been payable if you were not exempt from paying the tax because of the type of employer you are or the nature of the use of the property or service. You have to include GST/HST in the value of the taxable benefits you provide to employees, based on the gross amount of the benefits, without taking into account any amounts the employee reimbursed you for those benefits. See the sections in this guide to find out if GST/HST applies to the allowances and benefits you provide to your employees. GST is 7% and HST is 15% of the amount used to calculate the taxable benefit. However, this does not apply to: - cash remuneration (such as salary, wages, and allowances); and - a taxable benefit that is an exempt supply or a zero-rated supply as defined in the Excise Tax Act. For more information on exempt supply or zero-rated supply, see the publication called General Information for GST/HST Registrants (RC4022). When we refer to GST/HST in this guide, remember that you still have to include the PST and any other taxes in the value of the benefit, where it applies. Calculate GST before any PST. If you are a GST/HST registrant, you may have to remit the GST/HST relating to the taxable benefits you provide to your employees. For more information, see Chapter 5. Benefits chart The chart at the end of the guide indicates if you should deduct CPP contributions and EI premiums on the taxable amounts, and which codes to use to report the taxable amounts on the employee's T4 slip. The chart also indicates whether to include GST/HST in the value of the benefit for income tax purposes. PAGE 6 Chapter 2 - Automobile benefits and allowances Automobile and motor vehicle benefits An employee may use one of your automobiles for purposes other than business. The personal use of the automobile is considered a taxable benefit to the employee. Employees may use his or her personal automobile to carry out his or her employment duties and receive an allowance for the business use of his or her vehicle. The reimbursement for such use may be a taxable benefit. See "Automobile Allowances" on page 9. If the vehicle you provide to your employee is not described below, see "Benefit for motor vehicles not defined as an automobile" on page 9. Automobile An automobile is a motor vehicle that is designed or adapted mainly to carry individuals on highways and streets, and has a seating capacity of not more than the driver and eight passengers. An automobile does not include: - an ambulance; - a motor vehicle bought to use mainly as a taxi, a bus used in a business of transporting passengers, or a hearse in a funeral business; - a motor vehicle you bought to sell, rent, or lease in a motor vehicle sales, rental, or leasing business, except for benefits arising from personal use of an automobile; - a motor vehicle (except a hearse) you bought to use in a funeral business to transport passengers, except for benefits arising from personal use of an automobile; or - a van, pick-up truck, or similar vehicle that: - has a seating capacity of not more than the driver and two passengers, and in the year it is acquired or leased is used mainly to transport goods or equipment in the course of business; or - in the year it is acquired or leased, is used 90% or more of the time to transport goods, equipment, or passengers in the course of business. Note If the back part or trunk of a van, pick-up truck or similar vehicle has been permanently altered and can no longer be used as a passenger vehicle it is no longer considered an automobile. In addition to the above, for tax years that begin after 2002, an automobile does not include: - clearly marked police and fire emergency-response vehicles; or - pick-up trucks that are acquired or leased in the tax year that: - are used primarily to transport goods, equipment, or passengers in the course of earning or producing income; and - are used at a remote work location or at a special work site that is at least 30 kilometres away from any community having a population of at least 40,000. +++ Under proposed legislation, the automobile definition does not include a clearly marked emergency medical response vehicle that is used to carry emergency medical equipment together with one or more emergency medical attendants or paramedics. This proposed legislation applies to the 2005 and subsequent tax years. +++ Personal driving The personal driving of an employer's automobile is a taxable benefit to the employee. Personal driving is any driving by an employee, or a person related to the employee, for purposes not related to his or her employment. This includes: - vacation trips; - driving to conduct personal activities; and - travel between home and work (even if you insist that the employee drives the vehicle home). We do not consider it to be personal driving if you require or allow the employee to travel directly from home to a point of call (such as a salesperson visiting customers) other than your place of business to which the employee regularly reports, or to return home from that point. Calculating automobile benefits The benefit for an automobile you provide for the year is generally the total of the following amounts: - a standby charge for the year; and - an operating cost benefit for the year; minus - any reimbursements employees make in the year for benefits you otherwise include in their income for the standby charge or the operating costs. You and your employees should keep records on the use of an automobile so that you can properly identify the business and personal use amounts of the total kilometres driven in a calendar year by an employee or a person related to the employee. The records may contain information relating to the business destination such as the date, the name and address of the client, and the distance traveled between home and the client's place of business. Note Any tax payable by you in buying or leasing an employer-provided automobile has to be included when you calculate the automobile standby charge benefit. You have to include any tax (GST and PST, or HST) payable by you, as well as tax that would have been payable if you were not exempt from paying the tax because of the type of employer you are or the nature of the use of the property. PAGE 7 Calculating a standby charge benefit The standby charge represents the benefit employees enjoy when your automobile is available for their personal use. If the employee does not use the automobile for personal driving, there is no taxable benefit, even if the vehicle was available to the employee for the entire year. This applies as long as you require the employee to use the automobile in the course of his or her employment. You calculate the standby charge differently depending on whether you own or lease the automobile. Both calculations are included on this page. Automobile you own Base the standby charge on: - 2% of the automobile's cost to you; - the number of 30-day periods in the year the automobile was available to the employee; - the personal driving done while the automobile was available to the employee; and - the amount of any payment (reimbursement) you received from the employee for the standby charge. Your automobile costs The cost of your automobile for determining the standby charge is the total of the following two amounts: - the cost of the automobile when you bought it, including options, accessories, and GST and PST, or HST, but not including any reduction for trade-in; and - the cost of additions (including GST and PST, or HST) you made to the automobile after you bought it (that you add to the capital cost of the automobile for depreciation). Specialized equipment you add to the automobile to meet the requirements of a disabled person or for employment such as cellular phones, two-way radios, heavy-duty suspension, and power winches is not considered to be part of the automobile's cost for purposes of calculating the standby charge. Automobile availability An automobile is available to employees if they have access to or control over the vehicle. Access ends when an employee returns all the automobile's keys. Fleet operations You may operate a fleet or pool of automobiles from which an employee uses several automobiles during the year. If you assign an automobile to an employee from a fleet or pool on a long-term or exclusive basis, you have to base the standby charge on the automobile you have assigned to the employee. However, if the fleet is mostly the same or if you group it into a few similar groups, you can calculate the standby charge based on the average cost of the group from which you provide the automobile. You and the employee must agree to this. Automobile you lease Base the standby charge on: - two-thirds of the cost of your automobile lease less the amount payable to the lessor for insuring against loss, damage, or liability resulting from use of the automobile; - the number of 30-day periods in the year that the automobile was available to the employee; - the personal driving done while the automobile was available to the employee; and - the amount of any payment (reimbursement) you received from the employee for the standby charge. Your leasing costs Leasing costs of your automobile in determining the standby charge include: - the rental cost for the automobile; and - any associated costs, such as maintenance contracts, excess mileage charges, terminal charges less terminal credits, and the GST and PST, or HST, that you pay to the lessor under the leasing contract. Leasing costs do not include liability and collision insurance costs. Lump-sum lease payments Lump-sum amounts you pay the lessor at the beginning or end of a lease that are not a payment to buy the automobile will affect the standby charge for the automobile. Prorate the lump-sum payment you make at the beginning of a lease over the life of the lease. If you make a lump-sum payment at the end of a lease, we consider it to be a terminal charge. This means your lease costs should have been higher and the standby charge for the automobile has been understated. In this situation, you can use one of the following methods: - add the terminal charge to the lease costs in the year you end the lease; or - prorate the payment over the term of the lease and amend the T4 or T4A slip of the employee who used the vehicle, as long as he or she agrees and can still request an income tax adjustment for the years in question. Each employee can then write to any tax services office or tax centre and ask us to adjust his or her returns for those years. A lump-sum payment you receive from the lessor at the end of a lease is considered to be a terminal credit. When this happens, the standby charge for the automobile has been overstated since the lease costs should have been lower. In this situation, you can use one of the following methods: - deduct the terminal credit from the lease costs in the year you end the lease; or - amend the T4 or T4A slip of the employee who used the automobile and provide a letter explaining the reduction, as long as the employee agrees and can still request an income tax adjustment for the years in question. PAGE 8 Each employee can then write to any tax services office or tax centre and ask us to adjust his or her returns for those years. Whichever method you use when you make or receive a lump-sum payment at the end of the lease, include GST/HST. Employees who sell or lease automobiles You can modify the calculation of the standby charge for individuals you employ to sell or lease automobiles if: - the individual is employed mainly to sell or lease automobiles; - an automobile you own was made available to that individual or to someone related to that individual; and - you acquired at least one automobile during the year. You can choose the rate of 1.5% instead of 2% for the automobile's cost to you and calculate your automobile cost as the greater of the following two amounts: - the average cost of all automobiles you acquired to sell or lease in the year; or - the average cost of all new automobiles you acquired to sell or lease in the year. Reducing the standby charge For 2003 and later tax years, you can reduce the standby charge if the automobile is used more than 50% of the time for business purposes and the kilometres for personal use do not exceed 1,667 per 30-day period for a total of 20,004 kilometres per year. Partnerships You have to include a standby charge benefit in the income of a partner or an employee of a partner if a partnership makes an automobile available for personal use to: - a partner or a person related to the partner; or - an employee of a partner or a person related to an employee of a partner. Calculating an operating cost benefit When you or a person related to you provides an automobile to an employee and pays for the operating expenses related to personal use (including GST and PST, or HST), this payment represents a taxable benefit to the employee. Operating costs include: - gasoline and oil; - maintenance charges and repair expenses, less insurance proceeds; and - licences and insurance. Operating costs do not include: - interest; - capital cost allowance for an automobile you own; - lease costs for a leased automobile; or - parking costs. If you pay any amount of operating expenses, you have to calculate the operating cost benefit using a charge based on a fixed rate for 2005 of 20 cents per kilometre of personal use (including GST and PST, or HST). If the employee's main source of employment is selling or leasing automobiles, the fixed rate for 2005 is 17 cents per kilometre of personal use (including GST and PST, or HST). Reimbursement for operating costs If the employee reimburses you in the year or no later than 45 days after the end of the year, for all operating expenses (including GST and PST, or HST) attributable to personal use, you do not have to calculate a benefit for operating costs in the year. If the employee reimburses you for part of the vehicle's operating costs in the year or no later than 45 days after the end of the year, deduct the payment from the calculated benefit. Example In 2005, you provided your employee with an automobile. She drove 30,000 kilometres during the year, with 10,000 kilometres for personal use. You paid $3,000 in costs associated with maintenance, licences, and insurance. Calculate the part of the operating expenses that relates to her personal use of the automobile as follows: 10,000 kilometres divided by 30,000 kilometres multiplied by $3,000 = $1,000 If she reimbursed you for the total amount of $1,000 in the year or no later than 45 days after the end of the year, you do not have to calculate an operating cost benefit for her. However, if she reimbursed you for only $800 of the expenses you paid in the year or no later than 45 days after the end of the year, the operating cost benefit is $1,200, calculated as follows: 10,000 kilometres multiplied by 20 cents per kilometre = $2,000 $2,000 minus $800 = $1,200 Note When you use the fixed-rate method, you still have to keep records of this benefit. Optional calculation You can choose an optional method to calculate the vehicle's operating cost benefit if: - you include a standby charge in your employee's income; - your employee uses the automobile more than 50% of the time in the course of his or her office or employment; and - your employee notifies you in writing before the end of the tax year to use this method. If your employee meets these three conditions, calculate the operating cost benefit of the automobile at one-half of the standby charge before deducting any payments (reimbursements) your employee or a person related to your employee makes. In some cases, this optional calculation may result in a higher benefit amount than the fixed-rate calculation. PAGE 9 If the employee reimburses you for part of the vehicle's operating costs in the year, or no later than 45 days after the end of the year, deduct the payment from the calculated benefit. Benefit for motor vehicles not defined as an automobile A motor vehicle is an automotive vehicle designed or adapted for use on highways and streets. It does not include a trolley bus or a vehicle designed or adapted for use only on rails. There is no standby charge for the availability of motor vehicles such as trucks, buses, clearly marked police and fire emergency-response vehicles, which are not included in the definition of automobiles. However, a taxable benefit for the personal use would apply. If you provide your employees with such vehicles for personal use, you must reasonably estimate the fair market value of that benefit, including GST/HST. For more information, see Interpretation Bulletin IT-63, Benefits, Including Standby Charge for an Automobile, From the Personal Use of a Motor Vehicle Supplied by an Employer - After 1992. Payroll deductions After you determine the fair market value of the benefit, the estimated benefit must be averaged over the year (or period the employee will have the vehicle). Add this amount on a pay period basis to the employee's salary and other benefits/allowances, to determine the total amount subject to CPP contributions and income tax. The benefit is not insurable and is not subject to EI premiums. Reporting automobile benefits on the T4 slip At the end of the year, or when the person is no longer your employee, you must include the value of the benefit in box 14 "Employment income" and enter code 34 with the amount of the benefits plus the applicable GST/HST in the "Other information" area at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip. Shareholder's benefit The automobile benefit to the shareholder of a corporation (or a person related to the shareholder) has to be included in the income of the shareholder. Report the benefit on a T4 slip when the individual is both a shareholder and an employee and you provide the automobile to the individual (or a person related to that individual) in his or her capacity as an employee. Report the benefit in box 28 of a T4A slip when: - the shareholder is not an employee; or - the individual is both a shareholder and an employee and you provide the automobile to the individual in his or her capacity as a shareholder. Tools to help you calculate the automobile benefit You can use any of the following tools to determine the following amounts: - the estimated automobile benefit for withholding purposes; and - the taxable benefit that you have to report on the T4 or T4A slip. Automobile Benefits On-Line Calculator The calculator is available on our Web site at www.cra.gc.ca/autobenefits- calculator. Tables on Diskette (TOD) Tables on Diskette (T4143) is available on our Web site at www.cra.gc.ca/tod or call 1-800-959-2221. Worksheet The worksheet for calculating automobile benefits is now provided as a separate form, allowing you to request or print numerous copies. You can get Form RC18, Calculating Automobile Benefits for 2005, from our Web site at www.cra.gc.ca/autobenefits-calculator or by calling 1-800-959-2221. Automobile allowances An automobile allowance means any payment that employees receive from an employer for using their own motor vehicle in connection with or in the course of their office or employment. This payment is in addition to their salary or wages, without having to account for its use. An automobile allowance is taxable unless it is a reasonable per-kilometre allowance. The automobile allowance is not subject to GST/HST. This section explains common forms of automobile allowances. Non-taxable reasonable per-kilometre allowance If the allowance paid to your employees is based on a per-kilometre rate that we consider reasonable, it is not taxable. When your employees complete their returns, they do not include this allowance in income. A non-taxable allowance is not subject to CPP and EI withholdings. We consider an allowance for using an automobile to be reasonable only if all the following conditions apply: - the allowance is based only on the number of business kilometres driven in a year; - the rate per kilometre is reasonable; and - you did not reimburse the employee for expenses related to the same use, except in situations where you reimburse an employee for toll or ferry charges or supplementary business insurance if you have determined the allowance without including these reimbursements. PAGE 10 The type of vehicle and the driving conditions usually determine whether we consider a motor vehicle allowance to be reasonable. The automobile allowance rates per kilometre that we usually consider reasonable are the amounts prescribed in section 7306 of the Income Tax Regulations. These rates represent the maximum amount you can deduct as business expenses. You can use them as a guideline to determine if a motor vehicle allowance paid to an employee is reasonable. Automobile allowance rates For 2005, they are: - 45 cents per kilometre for the first 5,000 kilometres; and - 39 cents per kilometre thereafter. In the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Nunavut, there is an additional 4¢ per kilometre for travel. Per-kilometre allowance rates that we do not consider reasonable If the allowance paid to your employee is based on a per-kilometre rate that we do not consider reasonable because it is either too high or too low, it is taxable. The taxable allowance must be reported in box 14 "Employment income" and in the "Other information" area under code 40 at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip. Employees may be able to claim allowable expenses on their return. See "Employees' allowable expenses" on this page. Note If the allowance paid to your employees is unreasonably low, you may not have to include it in their income. This administrative policy applies only if the employees do not claim allowable expenses when they complete their returns. Flat-rate allowance If the allowance paid to your employee is based on a flat rate that is not related to the number of kilometres driven, it is taxable. The taxable allowance must be reported in box 14 "Employment income" and in the "Other information" area under code 40 at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip. Employees may be able to claim allowable expenses on their return. See "Employees' allowable expenses" on this page. Combination of flat-rate and reasonable per-kilometre allowances If the allowance you pay to your employee is a combination of flat-rate and reasonable per-kilometre allowances that cover the same use for the vehicle, the total combined allowance is taxable. The taxable combined allowance must be reported in box 14 "Employment income" and in the "Other information" area under code 40 at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip. Employees may be able to claim allowable expenses on their return. See "Employees' allowable expenses" on this page. Example 1 You pay an allowance to your employee as follows: - a flat per diem rate to offset the employee's fixed expenses for each day the vehicle is required; and - a reasonable per-kilometre rate for each kilometre driven to offset the operating expenses. The flat-rate amount compensates the employee for some of the "same use" on which a reasonable per-kilometre allowance is based, that is, the fixed expenses incurred by the employee to operate the vehicle. The combined amount is considered one allowance and therefore taxable, since it is not based solely on the number of kilometres the vehicle is used for employment purposes. Example 2 You pay an allowance to your employee as follows: - a reasonable per-kilometre amount for employment-related travel outside the employment district; and - a flat rate per month for travel inside the employment district. Since the flat-rate allowance does not cover any of the same use of the vehicle on which a reasonable per-kilometre allowance is based, the allowances are considered separately. The reasonable per-kilometre allowance paid for travel outside the district is not included in income. The amount based on a flat rate paid for travel inside the district is taxable, since it is not based solely on the number of kilometres for which the vehicle is used in connection with the employment. Only the total of the monthly fixed amount must be reported in box 14 "Employment income and in the "Other Information" area under code 40 at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip. Employees' allowable expenses When employees claim allowable expenses on their returns, you need to complete Part A and B of Form T2200, Declaration of Conditions of Employment and sign the form to certify that your employees met the required conditions during the year. They do not have to file this form with their return. However, they have to keep it in case we ask to see it later. It is the employees' responsibility to claim allowable expenses on their returns and to maintain records to support the claim. They also have to keep records of the kilometres driven for business. For more information on allowable expenses, see the publication called Employment Expenses (T4044). PAGE 11 Reimbursement or advance for travel expenses A reimbursement is a payment you make to your employees as a repayment for amounts they spent (such as gas and repairs) while conducting your business. Generally, the employee completes a claim or expense report detailing the amounts spent. Do not include a reasonable reimbursement, which becomes part of your business expenses, in the employee's income. An advance is an amount you give to employees for expenses they will incur on your business. They will account for their expenses by producing vouchers and return any amount they did not spend. Usually, a reimbursement or an accountable advance for travel expenses is not income for the employee receiving it unless it represents payment of the employee's personal expenses. Averaging allowances To comply with the rules on reasonable per-kilometre automobile allowances, employees must file expense claims with you on an ongoing basis, starting at the beginning of the year. A flat-rate or lump-sum automobile allowance that is not based on the number of kilometres driven cannot be averaged at the end of the year to determine a reasonable per-kilometre rate and then be excluded from the employee's income. We understand the administrative problems that can result from this. As a result, we are giving you an alternative. If you make accountable advances to employees for automobile expenses, you do not have to include them in the employee's income if all the following conditions are met: - there is a pre-established per-kilometre rate that is not more than a reasonable amount; - the rate and the advances are reasonable under the circumstances; - you document this method in the employee's record; and - no other provision of the Income Tax Act requires you to include the advances in the employee's income. Employees have to account for the business kilometres they travelled and any advances they received. They must do so on the date their employment ends in the year, or by the calendar year end, whichever is earlier. At that time, you have to pay any amounts you owe the employee and the employee must repay any amount over actual expenses. You cannot simply report the excess advances on the employee's T4 slip. For more information on automobile allowances, see Interpretation Bulletin IT-522, Vehicle, Travel and Sales Expenses of Employees. Payroll deductions Add the amount of the taxable allowances and the value of other benefits to the employee's salary to determine the total amount subject to payroll deductions such as CPP contributions, EI premiums, and income tax per pay period. Taxable automobile allowances are insurable and are subject to EI premiums. Reducing tax deductions at source on automobile allowances In many cases, automobile allowances that are not based solely on a reasonable per-kilometre rate can later be substantially offset by the employees' expense deductions when employees complete their individual returns. Employees can ask to reduce or eliminate their payroll deductions from the allowances. To do this, an employee has to send a request for a Letter of Authority (waiver) to the Client Services Division at his or her tax services office and include the following information: - the type of employment for which you will pay the allowance; - an estimate of the total automobile allowances the employee will receive in the year; - an estimate of the business kilometres the employee will drive in the year; - an estimate of the employee's automobile expenses for the year; and - the amount for which the employee is requesting the waiver. If you have a number of employees in the same situation, you can get a bulk waiver for the group. This way, every employee does not have to make an individual request. Reporting automobile allowances on the T4 slip If you paid your employee an automobile allowance that we consider to be taxable, you must enter the yearly total of this allowance in box 14 "Employment income" and in the "Other information" area under code 40 at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip. Do not report any amount that we do not consider to be taxable. PAGE 12 Chapter 3 - Other benefits and allowances The Benefits Chart at the end of this guide indicates if you should deduct CPP contributions and EI premiums on the taxable amounts, and which codes to use to report the taxable amounts on the employee's T4 slip. The chart also indicates whether to include GST/HST in the value of the benefit for income tax purposes. Board and lodging If you give free board, lodging, or both to an employee, the employee receives a taxable benefit. As a result, you must add to the employee's remuneration the fair market value of the meals and accommodation you provide. Report this amount in box 14 "Employment income "and in the "Other information" area under code 30 at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip. If you provide subsidized board and lodging to an employee, determine the value of the benefit's board portion as described in "Subsidized meals" on page 25. The benefit's lodging part is the fair market value of the accommodation minus any amount the employee paid. Report the benefits in box 14 "Employment income" and in the "Other information" area under code 30 at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip. Payroll deductions The taxable benefit for board, lodging, or both is pensionable. Deduct CPP contributions and income tax. Even though this is a non-cash benefit, it is insurable if it is received by the employee in addition to cash earnings in the pay period - in that case, deduct EI premiums. If no cash earnings are paid during the pay period, it is not insurable - do not deduct EI premiums. Exception to the rules There is an exception to these rules when you provide meals and accommodation to an employee who works at a remote location or a special work site - see below. Board, lodging, and transportation at special work sites and remote work locations Special work sites Generally, a special work site is an area where temporary duties are performed by an employee who maintains a self-contained domestic establishment at another location as his or her principal place of residence. Because of the distance between the two areas, the employee is not expected to return daily from the work site to his or her place of residence. Usually, GST/HST applies on meals and accommodations you provide to an employee. In certain cases, such as long-term residential accommodation of one month or more, no GST/HST applies. Where GST/HST applies, include it in the value of the benefit. Board and lodging You can exclude from income the value of board and lodging that you provided to an employee who works at a special work site or the allowance the employee received if he or she worked away from home and all of the following conditions were met: a) the employee must have worked at a special work site where the duties performed were of a temporary nature; b) the employee maintained at another location a self-contained domestic establishment as his or her principal place of residence: - that, throughout the period, was available for the employee's occupancy, and the employee did not rent it to any other person; and - to which, because of distance, we could not reasonably expect the employee to have returned daily from the special work site; and c) the board and lodging you provided or the allowance the employee received must have been for a period of at least 36 hours. This period can include time spent travelling between the employee's principal place of residence and a special work site. Also, the employee's duties required him or her to be away from the employee's principal place of residence or to be at the special work site. Transportation An employee can exclude from income the value of free or subsidized transportation between the special work site and the employee's principal place of residence, or a reasonable allowance received for his or her transportation expenses, for a period described in c). This only applies if the employee received board and lodging, or a reasonable allowance for board and lodging, from you for that period. Form TD4, Declaration of Exemption - Employment at Special Work Site If an employee meets all of the conditions in a), b), and c), you and the employee should complete Form TD4, Declaration of Exemption - Employment at Special Work Site. This allows you to exclude the benefit or allowance from the employee's income. If you complete Form TD4, do not include the amounts in box 14 "Employment income" or in the "Other information" area under code 30 at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip. After you complete Form TD4 with the employee, keep it with your payroll records. You should not complete Form TD4 if the employee does not meet all of the above conditions. Treat the amounts as the employee's income. Make the necessary deductions and report the amounts on the employee's T4 slip. This also applies to any part of an allowance for meals, accommodation, and transportation that is more than a reasonable amount. Note If the special work site is in a prescribed zone, see "Board, lodging, and transportation at a special work site" on page 28. PAGE 13 Remote work locations We usually consider a work location to be remote when it is 80 kilometres or more from the nearest established community with a population of at least 1,000 people. A location is not considered an established community if it lacks essential services or such services are not available within a reasonable commuting distance (such as basic food store, basic clothing store with merchandise in stock [not mail-order outlet], access to housing, certain medical help, and certain educational facilities). Board and lodging You can exclude from income the value of board and lodging that you provide to an employee who works at a remote work location, or the allowance the employee receives, if the following conditions are met: - the employee has to be located where we could not reasonably expect him or her to set up and maintain a self-contained domestic establishment because of the remoteness of the location and the distance from any established community; - you have not provided a self-contained establishment for the employee; and - the allowances have to be for a period of at least 36 hours when: - the employee's duties require the employee to be away from the principal place of residence; or - the employee has to be at the remote work location. Transportation You can exclude from income the value of free or subsidized transportation. A reasonable allowance for transportation expenses may also be excluded. To qualify for the exemption, the transportation allowance paid to an employee must be for a period of at least 36 hours when: - the employee had to be away from his or her principal place of residence; or - the employee had to be at the remote work location. You must have paid the allowance for transportation between the remote work location and any location in Canada. If the remote work location is outside Canada, the allowance for transportation between that location and any location in Canada, or another location also outside Canada, qualifies for exemption. When you provide board, lodging, and transportation under the above conditions, you do not have to report the equivalent value or any GST/HST that applies as remuneration to the employee on the T4 slip. We do not need Form TD4, Declaration of Exemption - Employment at Special Work Site, when there is an exemption for board, lodging, or transportation allowances you pay to employees who work at a remote work location. If you need help determining whether a location qualifies as remote, contact any tax services office or tax centre. An individual can meet the requirements of both a remote work location and a special work site. However, this benefit can be excluded from income only once. Payroll deductions If you exclude from income a benefit for board, lodging, and transportation at a special work site or remote work location, it is not pensionable and not insurable. Do not deduct CPP contributions, EI premiums, or income tax. Cellular phone service If you provide your employee with a cellular phone, the service is not taxable as long as the primary purpose is to assist the employee in carrying out his or her duties. If a portion of the phone usage is personal, the value of the personal usage should be included in the employee's income. You must include GST/HST in the value of the taxable cellular phone service. Payroll deductions Where the benefit is taxable, it is also pensionable. Deduct CPP contributions and income tax. If the taxable benefit is paid in cash, it is insurable. Deduct EI premiums. If it is a non-cash benefit, it is not insurable - do not deduct EI premiums. Childcare expenses Childcare is not taxable if all of the following conditions are met: - the services are provided at the employer's place of business; - the services are managed directly by the employer; - the services are provided to all of the employees at minimal or no cost; and - the services are not available to the general public, only employees. If the above conditions are not met, there is a taxable benefit to the employee. When you subsidize a facility operated by a third party in exchange for subsidized rates for your employees or if you make the facilities available to non-employees for a higher rate than what you charge your own employees, the difference must be included in the employee's income. You must include any applicable GST/HST in the value of the taxable childcare benefit. Payroll deductions Where the benefit is taxable, it is also pensionable. Deduct CPP contributions and income tax. If the taxable benefit is paid in cash, it is insurable. Deduct EI premiums. If it is a non-cash benefit, it is not insurable - do not deduct EI premiums. PAGE 14 Counselling services The fees you pay to provide services such as financial counselling or income tax preparation for an employee are usually considered a taxable benefit. This applies whether you pay the fees directly or indirectly. You have to include any applicable GST/HST in the value of such a benefit. Employee counselling services are not taxable if they relate to: - the wellness, mental or physical health (such as tobacco, drug, and alcohol abuse, stress management, and employee assistance programs) of an employee or a person related to an employee (this does not include amounts for using recreational or sporting facilities and club dues); - an employee's re-employment; or - an employee's retirement. Payroll deductions Where the benefit is taxable, it is also pensionable. Deduct CPP contributions and income tax. If the taxable benefit is paid in cash, it is insurable. Deduct EI premiums. If it is a non-cash benefit, it is not insurable - do not deduct EI premiums. Disability-related employment benefits Benefits you provide to employees who have a disability are generally not taxable. Reasonable transportation costs between an employee's home and work location (including parking near that location) are not taxable if you pay them to or for an employee who: - is legally blind; or - has a severe and prolonged mobility impairment, which markedly restricts the individual's ability to perform a basic activity of daily living. These transportation costs can include an allowance for taxis or specially designed public transit and parking that you provide or subsidize for these employees. You may have employees with severe and prolonged mental or physical impairments. If you provide reasonable benefits for attendants to help these employees perform their duties of employment, these benefits are not taxable to the employee. The benefits can include readers for persons who are blind, signers for persons who are deaf, and coaches for persons who are intellectually impaired. Payroll deductions Do not deduct CPP contributions, EI premiums, or income tax on these benefits. Discounts on merchandise and commissions on sales If you sell merchandise to your employees at a discount, the benefit they get from this is not usually considered a taxable benefit. However, this does not apply: - to a special arrangement you make with an employee or a group of employees to buy merchandise at a discount; - to an arrangement that allows an employee to buy merchandise (other than old or soiled merchandise) for less than your cost; or - when there is a reciprocal arrangement between two or more employers so that employees of one employer can buy merchandise at a discount from another employer. If you sell merchandise to employees at below cost, the taxable benefit is the difference between the fair market value of the goods and the price the employees pay. If a taxable benefit arises under any discount arrangement and it is not for an exempt or zero-rated supply, include GST/HST in the value of the benefit. Commissions that sales employees receive on merchandise they buy for personal use are not taxable. Similarly, when life insurance salespeople acquire life insurance policies, the commissions they receive are not taxable as long as they own the policies and have to make the required premium payments. Payroll deductions Where the benefit is taxable, it is also pensionable. However, it is not insurable since it is a non-cash benefit. Deduct CPP contributions and income tax, but do not deduct EI premiums. Educational allowances for children If you pay any amounts to an employee as an educational allowance for the employee's child, you have to include these amounts in the employee's income for the year. However, the educational allowance may not be taxable if all of the following conditions are met: - the education provided is in the official languages of Canada primarily used by the employee; - the school is the closest suitable one available in that official language; - the child is in full-time attendance at the school; and - the subsidy provided by you is reasonable. There is no GST/HST to include in the value of the educational allowances. Payroll deductions Where the allowance is taxable, it is also pensionable and insurable. Deduct CPP contributions, EI premiums, and income tax. Gifts, awards, and social events A gift or award that you give an employee is considered to be a taxable benefit from employment, whether it is cash, near-cash, or non-cash. However, under our policy, a non-cash gift or award that you give an employee may not be considered a taxable benefit under certain circumstances. PAGE 15 The policy allows you to give each employee up to two non-cash gifts per year, tax free, for a special occasion such as Christmas, Hanukkah, a birthday, a wedding, or the birth of a child. It also allows you to give each employee up to two non-cash awards per year, tax free. An award is given for an employment-related accomplishment such as long or outstanding service, employees' suggestions, or meeting or exceeding safety standards. The policy limits the cost of the gifts to $500, including taxes, and the cost of the awards to $500, including taxes. If one non-cash gift costs you more than $500, you have to include the fair market value of the gift in the employee's income. As well, if one non-cash award costs you more than $500, you have to include the full fair market value of the award in the employee's income. If you give more than one non-cash gift per year and the total cost is more than $500, we allow you to exclude the cost of up to two gifts from the employee's income, as long as the total cost of the excluded gift or gifts is not more than $500. You have to include the fair market value of the remaining gift(s) in the employee's income. The same limits apply for non- cash awards given to an employee. If you give more than one non-cash gift per year and the total cost is $500 or less, we allow you to exclude the cost of any two of the gifts from the employee's income. You have to include the fair market value of the remaining gift(s) in the employee's income. The same limits apply for non-cash awards given to an employee. This policy does not apply to cash or near-cash gifts or awards. A near-cash item could be a gift certificate, gold nuggets, securities, stocks, or any other item that can be easily converted to cash. If the benefit is all in cash, do not include GST/HST. However, if all or part of the taxable benefit is non-cash, and it is not for an exempt or zero- rated supply, include GST/HST in the value of that part of the benefit. For more information, visit www.cra.gc.ca/gifts. Payroll deductions Where the benefit is taxable, it is also pensionable. Deduct CPP contributions and income tax. If the taxable benefit is paid in cash, it is insurable. Deduct EI premiums. If it is a non-cash benefit, it is not insurable - do not deduct EI premiums. Awards from a manufacturer If a manufacturer of items or goods gives cash awards or non-cash awards to the dealer of the items or goods, the manufacturer does not have to report the awards on an information slip. However, if the dealer passes on cash awards to an employee, the dealer has to report the cash payment in box 14 "Employment income" and in the "Other information" area under code 40 at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip. If the dealer passes on non-cash awards to an employee, the above-noted policy will apply. If a manufacturer gives a cash award or a non-cash award directly to the employee of a dealer or other sales organization, the manufacturer has to report the value of the award as a benefit in box 28, "Other income," on a T4A slip. Social events If you provide a free party or other social event to all your employees and the cost is not more than $100 per person, we do not consider it to be a taxable benefit. Ancillary costs such as transportation home, taxi fare, and overnight accommodation would increase the $100 per person amount. If the cost of the party is greater than $100, the entire amount, including the ancillary cost, is a taxable benefit. If the benefit is all cash, do not include GST/HST in it. However, if all or part of the taxable benefit is non-cash and is not an exempt or zero-rated supply, include GST/HST in the value of that part of the benefit. For more information, see our Technical News No. 15 and Interpretation Bulletin IT-470, Employees' Fringe Benefits, and its Special Release. Payroll deductions Where the benefit is taxable, it is also pensionable. Deduct CPP contributions and income tax. If the taxable benefit is paid in cash, it is insurable. Deduct EI premiums. If it is a non-cash benefit, it is not insurable - do not deduct EI premiums. Group term life insurance policies - Employer-paid premiums This section applies to both current and retired employees who receive group term life insurance benefits from their employer or former employer. Note Premiums paid by an employer for employees' group life insurance that is not group term insurance and dependant life insurance are also considered a taxable benefit. A group term life insurance policy is a group life insurance policy where the only amounts payable by the insurer are policy dividends, experience rating refunds, and amounts payable on the death or disability of an employee or former employee. Term insurance is any life insurance under a group term life insurance policy other than insurance for which a lump-sum premium has become payable or has been paid. Life insurance for current employees would usually be term insurance, although it is sometimes provided for retired employees as well. A lump-sum premium is a premium for insurance on an individual's life where all or part of the premium is for insurance for a period that extends more than 13 months after the payment of the premium (or more than 13 months after the time the premium became payable, if it is paid after it became payable). PAGE 16 Calculating the benefit Use this calculation if the premiums are paid regularly and the premium rate for each individual is not dependent on age or sex: - the premiums payable for term insurance on the individual's life; and - the total of all sales taxes and excise taxes that apply to the individual's insurance coverage; minus - the premiums and any taxes the employee paid either directly or through reimbursements to you. Note Policy premiums for accidental death and dismemberment coverage are not included in calculating the taxable benefit. In any other situation, a detailed calculation is required. For information, call 1-800-959-5525. Payroll deductions This taxable benefit is pensionable. However, it is not insurable since it is a non-cash benefit. Deduct CPP contributions and income tax, but do not deduct EI premiums. There is no GST/HST to include in the value of this benefit. Reporting the benefit on the T4 slip Report the benefit for current employees on a T4 slip. Include the amount of the benefit in box 14 "Employment income" and in the "Other information" area under code 40 at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip. Report the benefit for retired employees on a T4A slip. Include the amount of the benefit, in box 28 "Other income." A T4A slip is only required if the benefit is more than $25. (The $500 reporting threshold for T4A slips, which is described in the employers' guide called Deducting Income Tax on Pension and Other Income, and Filing the T4A Slip and Summary Form (RC4157), will not apply.) Multi-employer plan administrators or trustees who provide taxable benefits from group term life insurance to employees or retirees under such a plan have to prepare a T4A slip only if the benefit is more than $25. They have to enter the group term life insurance benefits under code 19 and in box 28, "Other income," of the T4A slip. Notes In Ontario, the 8% provincial sales tax affects the taxable benefit for some insurance premiums that employers pay. Quebec employers have to calculate a taxable benefit on the total amount of group life insurance premiums that they pay for their employees including the 9% insurance levy that the province imposes on insurance premiums that the employer pays. Housing - Rent-free and low-rent If you provide an employee, including an apartment block superintendent, with a house, apartment, or similar accommodation rent-free or for less than the fair market value of such accommodation, the employee is considered to be receiving a taxable benefit. Amounts that you pay for your employees for utilities (such as phone, hydro, and natural gas) are also a taxable benefit. You have to estimate a reasonable amount for the benefit. It is usually the fair market value for the same type of accommodation minus any rent the employee paid. If you give your employee cash for rent or utilities, the value of the housing benefit is the amount of the cash payment. This is the amount that you include in the employee's income. The value of the accommodation is usually not subject to GST/HST if the employee occupies it for at least one month. Report the taxable benefit in box 14 "Employment income" and in the "Other information" area under code 30 at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip. Note If the dwelling you provide to the employee is in a prescribed zone, see "Accommodation or utilities provided by the employer" on page 28. Payroll deductions The taxable housing benefit is pensionable. Deduct CPP contributions and income tax. If the taxable benefit is paid in cash, it is insurable. Deduct EI premiums. If it is a non-cash benefit, it is insurable if it is received by the employee in addition to cash earnings in a pay period - in that case, deduct EI premiums. If no cash earnings are paid during the pay period, it is not insurable - do not deduct EI premiums. Clergy residence deduction If by virtue of his or her employment, an employee receives an amount in respect of his or her living accommodation, such as a rent-free or low-rent residence or other accommodation or amounts received for his or her own residence, you have to estimate the value of the benefit and report it on the employee's T4 slip. An employee is a member of the clergy, a regular minister, or a member of a religious order if he or she is in charge of, or ministers to, a diocese, parish, or congregation. This also applies to an employee who exclusively occupies a full-time administrative position by appointment of a religious order or denomination. To claim a deduction from income for his or her residence, an employee has to complete Parts A and C of Form T1223, Clergy Residence Deduction. You have to complete Part B and sign the form to certify that this employee has met the required conditions. The employee does not have to file the form with his or her return, but must keep it in case we ask to see it later. PAGE 17 If the employee tells you in writing that he or she will claim a deduction from income for the residence or other accommodation, do not include the rent and utilities portion of the benefit in income when you calculate the income tax deductions required. For information about CPP and EI, see the Employer's Guide - Payroll Deductions and Remittances (T4001). Although the rent and utilities portion can be excluded from income for the purposes of tax deductions, you still have to report it on the T4 slip. For more information, see Interpretation Bulletin IT-141, Clergy Residence Deduction. Special circumstances that reduce the value of a housing benefit The following two factors may reduce the value of a housing benefit you provide to your employee: - Suitability of size Your employee may have to occupy a dwelling larger than he or she needs (for example, a single person in a three-bedroom house). To determine the taxable housing benefit, you can reduce the value of the accommodation to equal the value of accommodation that is appropriate to your employee's needs (in this case, a one or two-bedroom apartment or house). Note If the dwelling you provide is smaller than your employee needs, we cannot allow any reduction in value. - Loss of privacy and quiet enjoyment If the dwelling you provide to your employee contains things like equipment, public access, or storage facilities that infringe on your employee's privacy or quiet enjoyment of the dwelling, you can reduce the value of the housing benefit. The reduction has to reasonably relate to the degree of disturbance that affects your employee. For more information, contact any tax services office. These two factors apply in the above order. If both circumstances apply to a dwelling, you should first reduce the value of the dwelling to equal the value of accommodation that suits your employee's needs. Then, you should apply any reduction for loss of privacy and quiet enjoyment to that reduced value. Interest-free and low-interest loans You have to include in income any benefit that an individual receives as a result of an interest-free or low-interest loan because of an office, employment, or shareholding. The benefit is the amount of interest that the individual would have paid on the loan for the year at the prescribed rates (see "Prescribed rates of interest" on page 19) minus the amount of interest that he or she actually paid on the loan in the year, or no later than 30 days after the end of the year. Special rules apply to certain loans and to home-relocation loans. See "Home- relocation loan" and "Exceptions" on page 18. Include the benefit for employees in box 14 "Employment income" and in the "Other information" area under code 36 at the bottom of the T4 slip. If you file a T4A for a shareholder, enter the benefit in box 28, "Other income." There is no GST/HST to include in the value of these benefits. Payroll deductions The taxable benefit for interest-free or low-interest loans is also pensionable. However, it is not insurable since it is a non-cash benefit. Deduct CPP contributions and income tax, but do not deduct EI premiums. Loans received because of employment An employee receives a taxable benefit if he or she receives a loan because of an office or employment or intended office or employment. We consider a loan received after February 23, 1998, to be received because of employment if it is reasonable to conclude that the loan would not have been received, or the conditions of the loan would have been different, had there been no employment or intended employment. The loan can be received by the employee or by another person. A loan includes any other indebtedness such as the unpaid purchase price of goods or services. The taxable benefit the employee receives in the tax year is the total of the following two amounts: a) the interest on each loan and debt calculated at the prescribed rate for the periods in the year during which it was outstanding; and b) the interest on the loan or debt that was paid or payable for the year by you, the employer (for this purpose, an employer is a person or partnership that employed or intended to employ the individual and also includes a person related to the person or partnership); minus the total of the following two amounts: c) the interest for the year that any person or partnership paid on each loan or debt no later than 30 days after the end of the year; and d) any part of the amount in b) that the employee pays back to the employer no later than 30 days after the end of the year. Note Sometimes these rules do not apply. For more information, see "Exceptions" on page 18. For information about similar taxable benefits resulting from loans received because of services performed by a corporation that carries on a personal services business, see Interpretation Bulletin IT-421, Benefits to Individuals, Corporations and Shareholders From Loans or Debt. Example of calculating the taxable benefit Joshua is your employee. He borrowed $150,000 from you at the beginning of the year. The prescribed rate of interest for the loan for is 3% for the first, second, and fourth quarters, and 2% for the third quarter. Joshua paid you $2,000 interest on the loan no later than 30 days after the end of the year. During the year, a company related to you paid $1,000 interest on the loan for Joshua. Before the end of the same year, Joshua repaid the $1,000 to the company. PAGE 18 Calculate the benefit to include in his income as follows: a) Prescribed rate × loan amount for the year: 3% multiplied by $150,000 multiplied by three-quarters = $3,375 2% multiplied by $150,000 multiplied by one-quarter = $750 ($3,375 + $750) $4,125 plus b) Amount paid by a third party 1,000 ($4,125 + 1,000) $5,125 minus c) Interest paid ($2,000 + $1,000) = $3,000 d) Amount Joshua repaid 1,000 ($3,000 + 1,000) 4,000 Joshua's taxable benefit ($5,125 minus 4,000) $1,125 Loans received because of shareholdings Loans received because of shareholdings are considered taxable benefits when the following three conditions are met: - the loan is received by a person or partnership (except when the person is a corporation resident in Canada or the partnership is one in which each partner is a corporation resident in Canada); - this person or partnership is: - a shareholder of a corporation; - connected with a shareholder of a corporation; or - a member of a partnership or beneficiary of a trust that was a shareholder of a corporation; and - because of these shareholdings, the person or partnership receives a loan from or incurs a debt to that corporation, a related corporation, or a partnership of which that corporation or any related corporation was a member. If these conditions are met, the person or partnership (for example, a shareholder) received a benefit in the tax year that is equal to: - period in the year during which it was outstanding; minus - the interest for the year that any party (for example, the person or partnership) paid on each loan or debt in the year, or no later than 30 days after the end of the year. Note A person includes an individual, a corporation, or a trust. Home-purchase loan A loan for a home purchase is any part of a loan to an employee that was used to get or repay another loan to get a dwelling to house that employee or a person related to that employee. This also applies to a shareholder or a person related to a shareholder. To calculate the benefit for home-purchase loan, see "Loans received because of employment" on page 17. The amount of interest you calculate as a benefit should not be more than the interest that would have been charged at the prescribed rate in effect when the employee made the loan or incurred the debt. If the term of repayment for a home-purchase loan is more than five years, the balance owing at the end of five years (from the day the loan was made) is considered a new loan. Treat the outstanding balance as a new loan on that date. To determine the benefit, use the prescribed rate in effect at that time. Home-relocation loan If you provided an employee or an employee's spouse or common-law partner with an interest-free or low-interest loan because the employee relocated to take up employment, see "Home-relocation loans" on page 20. Exceptions There is no benefit to borrowers for loans they received because of an office, employment, or shareholding when one of the following occurs: - The interest rate on the loan or debt equals, or is more than, the rate that two parties who deal with each other at arm's length would have agreed on when the debt arose. This is the rate that would apply on a commercial loan received other than through an office, employment, or shareholding. This exception does not apply if someone other than the borrower pays any part of the interest from the loan or debt. - You include all or part of the loan (for example, a loan or debt forgiven in whole or in part) in the income of a person or partnership. Reporting the benefit on the T4 slip If an employee receives a loan or incurs a debt because of employment, report the benefit in box 14 "Employment income" and in the "Other information" area under code 36 at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip. If a person or partnership that was a shareholder (or was related to a shareholder) receives a loan or incurs a debt, you generally have to report the benefit on a T4A slip. Enter the amount in box 28, "Other income," on the borrower's T4A slip. In the footnotes area, enter: "Box 28, Benefit under subsection 80.4(2) $XXXX." In box 38, enter code 17. Deductibility of deemed interest benefit The taxable benefit you include in an individual's income is the borrower's interest expense for the year. If the borrower uses the funds to earn income from business, property, or employment, the borrower may be able to deduct this interest from income. You still have to include the full benefit in the earnings you report on the T4 or T4A slips. PAGE 19 Prescribed rates of interest The following chart shows the prescribed rates of interest for 2004 and 2005. Quarterly rates Quarter: First 2004: 3% 2005: 3% Second 2004: 3% 2005: 3% Third 2004: 2% 2005: 3% Fourth 2004: 3% 2005: 3% To get the current prescribed rates of interest, visit our Web site at www.cra.gc.ca/interestrates. Internet If you provide your employee with internet service at home, the service is not taxable as long as you are the primary beneficiary of the service. If the employee is the primary beneficiary, the cost of the service including connection fees should be included in the employee's income. You must include any applicable GST/HST in the value of this benefit. Payroll deductions Where the benefit is taxable, it is also pensionable. Deduct CPP contributions and income tax. If the taxable benefit is paid in cash, it is insurable. Deduct EI premiums. If it is a non-cash benefit, it is not insurable - do not deduct EI premiums. Medical expenses If you pay for or provide an amount to pay for an employee's medical expenses in a tax year, these amounts are considered to be a taxable benefit to the employee. Generally, there is no GST/HST to include in the value of this benefit. However, some medical expenses that qualify for the medical expense tax credit may be subject to GST/HST. In such a case, include the GST/HST in the value of the benefit. If you have any questions about how GST/HST applies in this case, contact any tax services office or tax centre. For more information on qualifying medical expenses, see Interpretation Bulletin IT-519, Medical Expense and Disability Tax Credits and Attendant Care Expense Deduction. Payroll deductions The taxable benefit for medical expenses is pensionable. Deduct CPP contributions and income tax. If the taxable benefit is paid in cash, it is insurable. Deduct EI premiums. If it is a non-cash benefit, it is not insurable - do not deduct EI premiums. Moving expenses and relocation benefits When you transfer employees from one of your places of business to another, the amount you pay or reimburse employees for certain moving expenses is not a taxable benefit. This includes any amounts you incurred to move employees, the employees' families, and their household effects. This also applies when employees accept employment at different locations from the locations of their former residences. Also, if you pay certain expenses to move employees, their families, and their household effects out of a remote work location when they have completed their employment duties there, the amount you pay is not a taxable benefit. If you paid your employees allowances for incidental moving expenses that they do not have to account for, see "Non-accountable allowances" on page 20. Moving expenses paid by employer that are not a taxable benefit The following expenses are not a taxable benefit to your employees if you paid or reimbursed them: - the cost of house-hunting trips to the new location, which includes child and pet-care expenses while the employee is away; - travelling costs (including a reasonable amount spent for meals and lodging) while the employee and members of the employee's household were moving from the old residence to the new residence; - the cost to the employee of transporting or storing household effects while moving from the old residence to the new residence; - costs to move personal items such as automobiles, boats, or trailers; - charges and fees to disconnect telephones, television aerials, water, space heaters, air conditioners, gas barbecues, automatic garage doors, and water heaters; - fees to cancel leases; - the cost to the employee of selling the old residence (including advertising, notarial or legal fees, real estate commission, and mortgage discharge penalties); - charges to connect and install utilities, appliances, and fixtures that existed at the old residence; - adjustments and alterations to existing furniture and fixtures to arrange them in the new residence, which include plumbing and electrical changes in the new residence; - automobile licences, inspections, and drivers' permit fees, if the employee owned these items at the former location; - legal fees and land transfer tax to buy the new residence; - the cost to revise legal documents to reflect the new address; PAGE 20 - reasonable temporary living expenses while waiting to occupy the new, permanent accommodation; - long-distance telephone charges that relate to selling the old residence; and - amounts you paid or reimbursed for property taxes, heat, hydro, insurance, and grounds maintenance costs to keep up the old residence after the move, when all reasonable efforts to sell it have not been successful. Moving expenses paid by employer that are a taxable benefit If you pay or reimburse moving costs that we do not list above, the amounts are generally considered a taxable benefit to the employee. However, there is an exception for amounts paid after February 23, 1998, in respect of an eligible housing loss, if the employee started to work at the new work location after September 1998. Generally, in these situations, only one-half of the amount that is more than $15,000 is taxable. If you compensated your employee with more than one payment spread over two years, you will need to include an amount on his or her T4 slips for both years. See the examples below to determine how to calculate the taxable part of the benefit. Example 1 In March 2005, you compensated Clara, your employee, for a $40,000 loss she incurred on the sale of her house. The loss was an eligible housing loss. Clara started to work at her new workplace in June 2005. The taxable benefit you will report on Clara's 2005 T4 slip will be $12,500, calculated as follows: one-half multiplied by ($40,000 minus $15,000) Example 2 In June 2004, you agreed to compensate Paul, your employee, for any eligible housing loss that he incurred on the sale of his house. Paul started to work at his new work location on December 1, 2004. Paul's eligible housing loss amounted to $65,000. You paid out the compensation in two payments: $30,000 in September 2004 and $35,000 in February 2005. Paul's taxable benefit in 2004 was $7,500 (one-half of the amount paid in 2004 that is more than $15,000). Paul's taxable benefit in 2005 is $17,500. This is calculated as follows: - one half of the total of amounts paid in 2004 and 2005 that is more than $15,000 (one-half multiplied by [$65,000 minus $15,000] = $25,000); minus - the amount included in income in 2004 ($7,500). If you do not reimburse, or only partly reimburse, employees for moving expenses, the employees may be able to claim some of the moving expenses as a deduction from income when filing their returns. For more information on the deduction for moving expenses that is available to your employees, see Interpretation Bulletin IT-178, Moving Expenses, and Form T1-M, Moving Expenses Deduction. If a taxable benefit arises for moving expenses, include any applicable GST/HST in the value of this benefit. Payroll deductions Where the benefit is taxable, it is also pensionable. Deduct CPP contributions and income tax. If the taxable benefit is paid in cash, it is insurable. Deduct EI premiums. If it is a non-cash benefit, it is not insurable - do not deduct EI premiums. Non-accountable allowances Allowances that employees do not have to account for are called non- accountable allowances. We consider a non-accountable allowance for incidental relocation or moving expenses of $650 or less to be a reimbursement of expenses that employees incurred because of the move. Therefore, this type of allowance is not taxable. For us to consider it as a reimbursement for incidental expenses, employees have to certify in writing that they incurred expenses for at least the amount of the allowance, up to a maximum of $650. Do not report the amount of the reimbursement. Report any part of the non- accountable allowance that is more than $650 in box 14 "Employment income" and in the "Other information" area under code 40 at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip. There is no GST/HST to include in the value of these allowances. Examples - If your employee received a non-accountable allowance of $625 and certifies that he or she incurred expenses for the amount of the allowance, the employee will not be taxed on the amount received. - If your employee received a non-accountable allowance of $750, and he or she can certify the expenses, the employee will be taxed on $100 only, which is the part of the amount that is more than $650. Home-relocation loans A home-relocation loan is a loan you give to an employee or an employee's spouse or common-law partner when he or she meets all the following conditions: - the employee or the employee's spouse or common-law partner moves to start work at a new location in Canada; - the employee or the employee's spouse or common-law partner uses the loan to buy a new residence that is at least 40 kilometres closer to the new work location than the previous home; - the employee or the employee's spouse or common-law partner receives the loan because of the employee's employment; PAGE 21 - the employee designates the loan as a home-relocation loan; and - the loan is used to acquire a dwelling or a share of the capital stock of a co-operative housing corporation acquired for the sole purpose of acquiring the right to inhabit a dwelling owned by the corporation. The dwelling must be for the habitation of the employee and be his or her new residence. To calculate the benefit for the home-relocation loan, see "Loans received because of employment" on page 17. Include the amount of the taxable benefit in box 14 "Employment income" and in the "Other information" area under code 36 at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip. The amount of interest you calculate as a benefit should not be more than the interest that would have been charged at the prescribed rate in effect when the employee made the loan or incurred the debt. If the term of repayment for the home-relocation loan is more than five years, the balance owing at the end of five years (from the day the loan was made) is considered a new loan. Treat the outstanding balance as a new loan on that date. To determine the benefit, use the prescribed rate in effect at that time. Calculating the employee home-relocation loan deduction When you include in an employee's income a taxable benefit the employee received because of employment for a home-relocation loan, he or she can deduct whichever of the following amounts is less: - the benefit calculated for the home-relocation loan using the formula found in "Loans received because of employment" on page 17; - the interest (calculated at the prescribed rates) as if the home-relocation loan were for $25,000; or - the benefit that you included in the employee's income for loans received because of employment in the year. Enter the result in the "Other information" area under code 37 at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip. This is the amount the employees can deduct on their returns as "Employee home-relocation loan deduction." Note The deduction for the home-relocation loan is only available for the first five years of the loan. Municipal officer's expense allowance A municipal corporation or board may pay a non-accountable expense allowance to an elected officer to perform the duties of that office. If the expense allowance is more than one-third of the officer's salary and allowances, the excess amount is a taxable benefit. Enter it in box 14 "Employment income" and in the "Other information" area under code 40 at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip. If the expense allowance is not more than one-third of the officer's salary and allowances, do not include this amount in box 14 "Employment income" or in the "Other information" area under code 40 at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip. In either of the above situations, you have to identify the non-taxable portion of the allowance by entering the corresponding amount in the "Other information" area under code 70 at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip. There is no GST/HST to include in the value of this type of allowance. For more information, see Interpretation Bulletin IT-292, Taxation of Elected Officers of Incorporated Municipalities, School Boards, Municipal Commissions and Similar Bodies. Payroll deductions Where the allowance is taxable, it is also pensionable. Deduct CPP contributions and income tax. An elected municipal officer's expense allowance is not insurable - do not deduct EI premiums. Parking Employer-provided parking generally constitutes a taxable benefit to the employee, whether or not the employer owns the lot. The amount of the benefit is based on the fair market value of the parking minus any payment the employee makes to use the space. Include GST/HST in the value of this type of benefit. If you cannot determine the fair market value, do not add a benefit to the employee's remuneration. This could happen in the following situations: - a business operates from a shopping centre or industrial park where parking is available to both employees and non-employees; or - an employer provides scramble parking (there are fewer spaces than there are employees who require parking and the spaces are available on a first- come, first-served basis). If the employee has a disability, the parking benefit is generally not taxable. See "Disability-related employment benefits" on page 14. There is no taxable benefit for employees when the two following conditions are met: - you provide parking to your employees for business purposes; and - employees regularly have to use their own automobiles or ones you usually supply to perform their duties. To determine if an employee has received a benefit, each case must be examined based on the facts. If you are not sure if employer-provided parking is a taxable benefit, contact any tax services office. Payroll deductions Where the benefit is taxable, it is also pensionable. Deduct CPP contributions and income tax. If the taxable benefit is paid in cash, it is insurable. Deduct EI premiums. If it is a non-cash benefit, it is not insurable - do not deduct EI premiums. PAGE 22 Premiums under a private health services plan If you make contributions to private health services plans (such as medical or dental plans) for employees, there is no taxable benefit to the employees. For more information, see Interpretation Bulletin IT-339, Meaning of "Private Health Services Plan." Payroll deductions Do not deduct CPP contributions, EI premiums, or income tax from benefits you provide to employees under private health services plans. Premiums under provincial hospitalization, medical care insurance, and certain Government of Canada plans You may be paying premiums or contributing to a provincial hospital or medical care insurance plan for an employee. If this is the case, the amount you pay is considered a taxable benefit to the employee. Also, if you are the former employer of an employee who has retired, any amount you pay as a contribution to a provincial health services insurance plan for the retired employee is a taxable benefit. Report this benefit in box 28 of a T4A slip. In the footnotes area, enter: "Box 28, Medical premium benefit: $XXXX." In box 38, enter code 18. Any amount that the federal government pays for premiums under a hospital or medical care insurance plan for its employees and their dependants serving outside Canada is a taxable benefit. This also applies to dependants of members of the RCMP and the Canadian Forces serving outside Canada. There is no GST/HST to include in the value of this type of benefit. As an employer, if you have to pay amounts (other than for the contribution or premiums that an employee has to make under the plan) to a provincial or territorial authority that administers a hospital or medical insurance plan, the payments you make are not considered a taxable benefit to employees. Payroll deductions Where the benefit is taxable, it is also pensionable. Deduct CPP contributions and income tax. If the taxable benefit is paid in cash, it is insurable. Deduct EI premiums. If it is a non-cash benefit, it is not insurable - do not deduct EI premiums. Professional membership dues If you pay professional membership dues on behalf of your employees, there is no benefit to the employees if you are the primary beneficiary of the payment. A taxable benefit arises when the employee is the primary beneficiary of the payment. Whether you or the employee is the primary beneficiary is a question of fact. If you pay or reimburse professional membership dues because membership in the organization or association is a condition of employment, we consider you to be the primary beneficiary - as a result, there is no taxable benefit to the employee. When membership is not a condition of employment, the question of primary beneficiary still has to be resolved. As the employer, you are responsible for making this determination. You must be prepared to justify your position if we ask you to do so. In all situations where you pay or reimburse an employee's professional membership dues and the primary beneficiary is the employee, there is a taxable benefit to the employee. You have to include any applicable GST/HST in the value of such a benefit. For more information, see our Technical News No. 15 and Interpretation Bulletin IT-158, Employees' Professional Membership Dues. Note You should advise your employees that they cannot deduct from their employment income professional dues paid or reimbursed by you. Payroll deductions Where the benefit is taxable, it is also pensionable. Deduct CPP contributions and income tax. If the taxable benefit is paid in cash, it is insurable. Deduct EI premiums. If it is a non-cash benefit, it is not insurable - do not deduct EI premiums. Recreational facilities and club dues If you provide or pay for a recreational facility for employees, such as an exercise room, swimming pool, or gymnasium, or if you pay for their memberships to a business or professional club (that operates fitness, recreational, sports, or dining facilities for the use of their members but their primary purpose is something other than recreation), your employees receive a taxable benefit. This occurs when you subsidize, pay, or reimburse the cost of the membership for employees. However, the use of the facility or club does not give rise to a taxable benefit to the employees in any of the following situations: - You provide an in-house recreational facility or pay an organization to provide recreational facilities and the facility or membership is available to all employees. This applies whether you provide the facilities free of charge or for a minimal fee. If you supply recreational facilities to a select group or category of employees for free or for a minimal fee while other employees have to pay the full fee, we consider that a taxable benefit is conferred to the employees who do not have to pay the full fee. - You make an arrangement with a facility to pay a fee for the use of the facility, and the membership is with you and not the employee. PAGE 23 - It can be clearly shown that membership in a club or recreational facility is principally for your advantage rather than the employee's. If you reimburse your employees, up to a set maximum, for the membership dues in a recreational facility of their choice, the employee receives a taxable benefit. It is the employee who has paid for the membership, owns it, and has signed some kind of contract with the company providing the facility. You must include GST/HST in the value of the taxable recreational facility and club dues. If you pay or reimburse the employee for expenses incurred for food and beverages at a restaurant, dining room lounge, banquet hall, or conference room of a recreational facility or club, the employee receives a taxable benefit. Include GST/HST in the value of the benefit. For more information, see interpretation bulletins IT-470, Employees' Fringe Benefits, and its Special Release, and IT-148, Recreational Properties and Club Dues. Payroll deductions Where the benefit is taxable, it is also pensionable. Deduct CPP contributions and income tax. If the taxable benefit is paid in cash, it is insurable. Deduct EI premiums. If it is a non-cash benefit, it is not insurable - do not deduct EI premiums. Registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs) Contributions you make to an employee's RRSP and RRSP administration fees that you pay on behalf of your employee are considered to be a taxable benefit to the employee. This does not include an amount you withheld from the employee's remuneration and contributed for the employee. If GST/HST applies to the administration fees, include it in the value of the benefit. Payroll deductions RRSP taxable benefits are pensionable and insurable. Deduct CPP contributions and EI premiums. Your contributions to the employee's RRSP are considered non-cash benefits and are not insurable in cases where the employees cannot withdraw the amounts from a group RRSP until they retire or cease to be employed. Where you allow the employee to withdraw RRSP funds under the Home Buyers Plan or Lifelong Learning Plan, we still consider the contributions to be non-cash benefits. Although the benefit is taxable and has to be reported on the T4 slip, you do not have to deduct income tax at source on the contributions you make to employees' RRSPs. However, you must have reasonable grounds to believe that the employee can deduct the contribution for the year. Security options When a corporation agrees to sell or issue its shares to employees, or when a mutual fund trust grants options to employees to acquire trust units, the employees may receive a taxable benefit. The taxable benefit is the difference between the fair market value of the shares or units when the employees acquire them and the amount paid, or to be paid, for them, including any amount paid for the rights to acquire the shares or units. In addition, a benefit can accrue to the employees if their rights under the agreement become vested in another person, or if they transfer or sell the rights. The shares or trust units are considered to be acquired when legal ownership of the shares has been transferred and the vendor has entitlement to receive payment. In general this would occur where the shares have been transferred to the employee/broker and paid for. There is no GST/HST to include in the value of this benefit. Include this benefit in box 14 "Employment income" and in the "Other information" area under code 38 at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip. Also, be sure to show the deductions the employee is entitled to in the "Other information" area of the T4 slip, as explained in the rest of this section. If the employee is allowed, and chooses, to defer the taxable benefit until he or she disposes of the eligible security, follow the instructions under "Deferred security option benefit" included below. For more information on security options, visit our Web site at www.cra.gc.ca/stockoptions or see Interpretation Bulletin IT-113, Benefits to Employees - Stock Options. Payroll deductions The security option taxable benefit is pensionable. Deduct CPP contributions. For the calculation of the income tax deductions, we permit you to reduce the amount of the benefit by the 50% share deductions available under paragraph 110(1)(d) or 110(1)(d.1) of the Income Tax Act, whichever applies. Since this is a non-cash benefit, it is not insurable - do not deduct EI premiums. Deferred security option benefit An eligible employee who exercises an option can defer the taxable benefit of a qualifying acquisition to be included in income until whichever of the following comes first: - the year in which he or she disposes of the securities; - the year in which he or she dies; or - the year in which he or she becomes a non-resident. A security is a share of the capital stock of a corporation or a unit of a mutual fund trust that is a qualifying person. To be considered a qualifying acquisition, the following conditions must be met: - the option must be either to get eligible publicly-listed shares or units of a mutual fund trust; PAGE 24 - the conditions under paragraph 110(1)(d) for the shares deduction must be met. See Paragraph 110(1)(d) on this page; and - the employee is not, immediately after the option is granted, a specified shareholder of the employer, the entity granting the option, or the entity whose securities could be acquired under the option. A specified shareholder is generally a person who directly or indirectly owns 10% or more of the issued shares of any class of the capital stock of the corporation or any related corporation. For an employee to be eligible to defer the amount of the benefit, all the following conditions must be met: - he or she must file an election, in the form of a letter, with the qualifying person before January 16 of the year following the year in which the options are exercised; - he or she must be a resident of Canada at the time the options are exercised; and - the specified value of the security must not be more than the $100,000 annual vesting limit. A qualifying person is a corporation or a mutual fund trust that is an employer or the person who would be required to file an information return for the acquisition of a security. The $100,000 limit applies to the value of the security options that first become exercisable by the employee each year and across all security options offered by the employer. The $100,000 limit cannot be carried forward year after year. The value of the security option is the fair market value of the share at the time the option is granted. The employee can revoke his or her election before January 16 of the year following the year in which the options are exercised by filing a written revocation to the election with the person with whom the election was filed. If the election is revoked, the election is deemed never to have been made. The employee also has to complete and file Form T1212, Statement of Deferred Security Options Benefits, with his or her income tax return for each year he or she has a balance of deferred stock option benefits outstanding. You have to accept the employee election to defer the benefit and accept the revocation. Report the amount of the deferred benefit in the "Other information" area under code 53 at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip. Do not include this amount in box 14 "Employment income" or in the "Other information" area under code 38 at the bottom of the employee's the T4 slip. Payroll deductions The security option benefit that is deferred for income tax purposes is pensionable. Deduct CPP contributions. Since this is a non-cash benefit, it is not insurable - do not deduct EI premiums. Paragraph 110(1)(d) Generally, the employee receives the benefit in the same year he or she acquired the shares or units. The employee can claim a deduction under paragraph 110(1)(d) of the Income Tax Act if the following conditions are met: - a qualifying person agreed to sell or issue to the employee a share of its capital stock or the capital stock of another corporation that it does not deal with at arm's length, or agreed to sell or issue units of a mutual fund trust; - the employee dealt at arm's length with these qualifying persons right after the agreement was made; - if the security is a share, it is a prescribed share (as defined in the Income Tax Regulations) - if it is a unit, it is a unit of a mutual fund trust; and - the price of the share or unit is not less than its fair market value when the agreement was made. The deduction the employee can claim is one-half of the amount of the benefit that arises because shares were acquired or when rights for shares were transferred or otherwise disposed of. Identify the amount of the deduction by entering it in the "Other information" area under code 39 at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip. Note The effect of foreign exchange gains and losses is irrelevant when determining if an individual is eligible for the security option deduction. Paragraph 110(1)(d.1) The employee receives the benefit in the year the employee disposes of the shares, and not in the year the employee acquires them, if: - when the agreement to sell or issue shares to the employee was concluded, the issuing or selling corporation was a Canadian-controlled private corporation; - the employee acquired shares after May 22, 1985; and - the employee dealt at arm's length with the corporation or any other corporation involved right after the agreement was concluded. In this case, the employee can claim a deduction under paragraph 110(1)(d.1) of the Income Tax Act if: - the shares are disposed of in the year; - the employee did not dispose of the shares within two years of acquiring them; and - the employee did not deduct an amount under paragraph 110(1)(d) for the benefit. The deduction the employee can claim is one-half of the amount of the benefit for the shares disposed of. Identify the amount of the deduction by entering it in the "Other information" area under code 41 at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip. Note Arm's length refers to parties that are not related in any way, other than as employer and employee. PAGE 25 Spouse or common-law partner's travelling expenses If a spouse or common-law partner accompanies an employee on a business trip, the amount you reimburse the employee for the spouse or common-law partner's travelling expenses is a taxable benefit to the employee. If GST/HST applies to the travelling expenses, you have to include it in the value of the benefit. The reimbursement is not considered a taxable benefit if the spouse or common-law partner went at your request and was mostly engaged in business activities during the trip. For more information, see Interpretation Bulletin IT-131, Convention Expenses. Payroll deductions Where the benefit is taxable, it is also pensionable. Deduct CPP contributions and income tax. If the taxable benefit is paid in cash, it is insurable. Deduct EI premiums. If it is a non-cash benefit, it is not insurable - do not deduct EI premiums. Subsidized meals If you provide subsidized meals to an employee (for example, in an employee dining room or cafeteria), these meals are not considered a taxable benefit if the employee pays a reasonable charge. A reasonable charge is one that covers the cost of the food, its preparation, and service. If the charge is not reasonable, the value of the benefit is the cost of the meals minus any payment the employee makes. Include the taxable benefit in box 14 "Employment income" and in the "Other information" area under code 30 at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip. If GST/HST applies on subsidized meals, include it in the value of the benefit. You have to include that amount in the employee's income without considering any amounts he or she reimbursed you. Payroll deductions Where the subsidized meals benefit is taxable, it is also pensionable. However, since it is a non-cash benefit, it is not insurable. Deduct CPP contributions and income tax, but do not deduct EI premiums. Overtime meal allowances If you provide overtime meals, or a reasonable allowance for overtime meals, we consider that there is no taxable benefit in the following circumstances: - the employee works three or more hours of overtime right after his or her scheduled hours of work; and - the overtime is infrequent and occasional in nature (less than three times a week). If overtime occurs on a frequent basis (more than twice a week), we consider the overtime meal allowances to be a taxable benefit since they start to take on the characteristics of additional remuneration. Include the taxable benefit in box 14 "Employment income" and in the "Other information" area under code 40 at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip. Payroll deductions Where the allowance is taxable, it is also pensionable and insurable. Deduct CPP contributions, EI premiums, and income tax. Subsidized school services In remote areas, employers are often responsible for essential community services that municipalities usually provide. If you provide free or subsidized school services for your employees' children, the employees do not receive a taxable benefit. Do not deduct CPP contributions, EI premiums, or income tax on these amounts. This does not include an educational allowance you pay directly to your employees, as explained in "Educational allowances for children" on page 14. Tool reimbursement or allowance If you make payments to your employees to offset the cost of tools that they require to perform their work, the amount of the payment is considered a taxable benefit and should be included in the employee's income. Note Employed apprentice mechanics may be able to deduct the cost of eligible tools purchased to earn employment income. For information, see chapter 6 of the guide called Employment Expenses (T4044). Payroll deductions A tool reimbursement is taxable and pensionable. Deduct CPP contributions and income tax. It is not insurable - do not deduct EI premiums. Include any applicable GST/HST in the value of this benefit. A tool allowance is taxable, pensionable and insurable. Deduct CPP contributions, EI premiums and income tax. There is no GST/HST to include in the value of the tool allowance. Transportation to and from the job If you provide an employee with an automobile or an allowance for driving between home and a regular place of employment, the employee receives a taxable benefit (including any refunded expenses such as taxi fares). Any location at or from which the employee regularly reports for work or performs the duties of employment is generally considered a regular place of employment. If GST/HST applies, you have to include it in the value of the benefit. For security or other reasons, there are times when public and private vehicles are neither allowed nor practical at an employment location. As a result, you may need to provide your employees with transportation from pick- up points to that location. This transportation is not a taxable benefit. Do not deduct CPP contributions, EI premiums, or income tax from these amounts. For more information, see "Board, lodging, and transportation at special work sites and remote work locations" on page 12. PAGE 26 Part-time employee If you give a part-time employee a reasonable allowance or reimbursement for travelling expenses incurred by the employee going to and from a part-time job, and you and the part-time employee are dealing at arm's length, you do not have to include the amount in the employee's income. This applies in the following situations: - For teachers and professors who work part time in a designated educational institution in Canada, providing service to you as a professor or teacher, and the location is no less than 80 kilometres from the employee's home. - For other employees, the part-time employee had other employment or carried on a business, and he or she did the duties at a location no less than 80 kilometres from both the place of the employee's home and the place of the other employment or business. Payroll deductions Where the allowance is taxable, it is also pensionable and insurable. Deduct CPP contributions, EI premiums, and income tax. Travelling allowance Salesperson and clergy A reasonable travel allowance for expenses other than for the use of an automobile (for example, meals, lodging, per diem allowance) is not included in the employee's income if the allowance was for expenses related to discharging the duties of the office or employment and the employee is either: - an agent selling property or negotiating contracts on behalf of the employer; or - a member of the clergy. Other employees You have to include those reasonable travel allowances in the income of employees, other than a salesperson or member of the clergy, who travel to perform the duties of the office or employment, unless the allowances are received by the employee for travelling away from the municipality and the metropolitan area where the employer's establishment is located and where the employee ordinarily works or reports. For information, see paragraph 48 in Interpretation Bulletin IT-522, Vehicle, Travel and Sales Expenses of Employees. Payroll deductions Where the allowance is taxable, it is also pensionable and insurable. Deduct CPP contributions, EI premiums, and income tax. Tuition fees, scholarships, and bursaries We have developed guidelines on employer-paid educational costs to help you determine if there is a taxable benefit for your employees. When the training is mainly for your benefit, there is no taxable benefit whether or not the training leads to a degree, diploma, or certificate. A taxable benefit arises when the training is mainly for the employee's benefit. The guidelines consider three broad categories of training: - Specific employment-related training We generally consider that courses taken to maintain or upgrade employment- related skills are mainly for your benefit when it is reasonable to assume that the employee will resume his or her employment for a reasonable period of time after he or she completes the course. For example, tuition fees and other associated costs such as books, meals, travel, and accommodation that you pay for courses leading to a degree, diploma, or certificate in a field related to your employee's current or future responsibilities in your business are not a taxable benefit. - General employment-related training We generally consider that other business-related courses, although not directly related to your own business, are taken mainly for your benefit. For example, fees you pay for stress management, employment equity, first- aid, and language courses are not a taxable benefit. - Personal interest training We consider that courses for personal interest or technical skills not related to your business are taken mainly for the employee's benefit and, therefore, are a taxable benefit. If the tuition fees you paid (or reimbursed) your employee are a taxable benefit according to the guidelines above, you have to include the amount in the employee's income for the year you made the payment. If you paid (or reimbursed) tuition fees to employees and there is no taxable benefit according to the guidelines above, the employees are not entitled to claim the non-refundable tuition credit on their return for those fees. They cannot claim the education amount either. You should inform them of this. Tuition fees, books, and supplies you paid or reimbursed for a person related to your employee may also be a taxable benefit for the employee for the year you made the payment. A student, during or right after employment with you, may arrange with you to receive a scholarship or bursary from you on condition that the student returns to your employment. In this situation, the amount of the scholarship or bursary is the student's employment income. If, as part of an educational institution, you provide free tuition to employees or their spouses or common-law partners or children, include the benefit's fair market value in the employees' income. Certain tuition fees may be subject to GST/HST. If paying tuition fees results in a taxable benefit for an employee and the fees are subject to GST/HST, include GST/HST in the value of the benefit. PAGE 27 For more information, see our Technical News No. 13 and interpretation bulletins IT-75, Scholarships, Fellowships, Bursaries, Prizes, Research Grants and Financial Assistance, IT-470, Employees' Fringe Benefits, and its Special Release, IT-516, Tuition Tax Credit, and Information Circular 75-23, Tuition Fees and Charitable Donations Paid to Privately Supported Secular and Religious Schools. Payroll deductions Where the benefit is taxable, it is also pensionable. Deduct CPP contributions and income tax. If the taxable benefit is paid in cash, it is insurable. Deduct EI premiums. If it is a non-cash benefit, it is not insurable - do not deduct EI premiums. Uniforms and special clothing Employees do not receive a taxable benefit when: - you supply them with a distinctive uniform they have to wear while they carry out their employment duties; or - you provide them with special clothing (including safety footwear) designed to protect them from hazards associated with the employment. When you pay an accountable allowance (where receipts are required) to employees to buy uniforms or protective clothing, this amount is considered to be a reimbursement of expenses and not a taxable benefit. If you reimburse your employees for the cost of protective clothing they bought and they did not have to support their purchases with receipts, the reimbursement is a non-taxable benefit if: - the law requires employees to wear the protective clothing on the work site; - employees bought the protective clothing; and - the amount of the reimbursement is reasonable. If these three conditions are not met, the payments are a taxable benefit. Include GST/HST in the value of this type of benefit. You may pay a laundry or dry cleaner to clean uniforms and clothing for your employees or you may pay a reasonable allowance to your employees (when they do not have to provide a receipt). You may also reimburse the employees for these expenses when they present a receipt. If you do either of these, the amounts you pay are not taxable benefits for the employees. Payroll deductions Where the benefit is taxable, it is also pensionable. Deduct CPP contributions and income tax. If the taxable benefit is paid in cash, it is insurable. Deduct EI premiums. If it is a non-cash benefit, it is not insurable - do not deduct EI premiums. Wage-loss replacement plans or income maintenance plans If you pay a premium to a wage-loss replacement plan or an income maintenance plan for an employee, the premium is a taxable benefit if you pay it to a non-group plan that is: - a sickness or accident insurance plan; - a disability insurance plan; or - an income maintenance insurance plan. However, if you pay a premium for an employee for such plans that are group plans, the premium is not a taxable benefit for the employee. There is no GST/HST to include in the value of this type of benefit. For more information, see Interpretation Bulletin IT-428, Wage Loss Replacement Plans. Payroll deductions Where the benefit is taxable, it is also pensionable. Deduct CPP contributions and income tax. Since this is a non-cash benefit, it is not insurable - do not deduct EI premiums. Group disability benefits - Insolvent insurer Under subsection 6(17) of the Income Tax Act, a top-up disability payment includes a payment made by an employer directly to an individual to replace all or part of the periodic payments that, because of an insurer's insolvency, are no longer being made to the individual under a disability policy for which the employer made contributions. This treatment allows the continued deduction of contributions made by the employee to be considered in determining the amount to be included in the employee's income from employment under paragraph 6(1)(f). This applies to any top-up disability payment made after August 10, 1994. A disability policy is a group disability insurance policy that provides periodic payments to individuals for lost employment income. PAGE 28 Chapter 4 - Housing and travel assistance benefits paid in a prescribed zone This chapter applies to you if you meet both of the following conditions: - you are an employer or a third-party payer who provides employment benefits for board, lodging, transportation, or travel assistance; and - you provide these benefits to employees who work or live in locations that are in prescribed zones for purposes of the northern residents deductions. The publication called Northern Residents Deductions - Places in Prescribed Zones (T4039) contains a list of places in prescribed northern zones and prescribed intermediate zones. This chapter does not apply to you if your employees are at a special work site or a remote work location that is not in a prescribed zone. These situations are covered on page 12. Accommodation or utilities provided by the employer If you provide accommodation or utilities free of charge to your employees, the method you use to determine the value of the benefit depends on whether or not the place in a prescribed zone has a developed rental market. Places with developed rental markets Some cities and towns in prescribed zones have developed rental markets. When that is the case, you base the value of any rent or utility you provide on its fair market value. The cities and towns in prescribed zones that have developed rental markets are: Whitehorse, Yellowknife, Dawson Creek, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Thompson, Labrador City, Wabush, Fort St. John Places without developed rental markets In places in prescribed zones without developed rental markets, you have to use other methods to set a value on the housing benefit. The method you use depends on whether you own the dwelling or rent it from a third party. If you provide both rent and utilities and can calculate their cost as separate items, you have to determine their value separately. Then add both items to get the value of the housing benefit. If your employee reimburses you for all or part of his or her rent or utilities, determine the benefit as explained below. Then subtract any amount reimbursed by your employee and include the amount that remains in his or her income. Dwellings you own If you own a dwelling that you provide rent-free to your employee, report as rent whichever of the following amounts is less: - the fair market value of the rent; or - the ceiling amount. If you provide utilities using equipment that you own (for example, electricity from a generator), report as utilities whichever of the following amounts is less: - the fair market value of the utilities; or - the ceiling amount. Dwellings you rent from a third party If you rent a dwelling from a third party and provide it rent-free to your employee, report as rent whichever of the following amounts is less: - the amount you pay the third party; or - the ceiling amount. Similarly, the amount you have to report for utilities is whichever of the following amounts is less: - the amount you pay the third party; or - the ceiling amount. Allowable ceiling amounts There are allowable ceiling amounts for different types of accommodation. These ceiling amounts can help determine the value of the housing benefit that you provide in places in prescribed zones that do not have developed rental markets. They are considered to include any applicable GST/HST, so you do not have to calculate this amount. If the amount of the housing benefit you report is based on the fair market value, you have to calculate and report any GST/HST that applies. If the total of the fair market value plus GST/HST is more than the allowable ceiling amount, report the allowable ceiling amount as the housing benefit. The publication called Ceiling Amounts for Housing Benefits Paid in Prescribed Zones (RC4054) lists the ceiling amounts for rent and utilities. Note If more than one employee occupies the same dwelling, prorate the housing benefit for the number of occupants in the dwelling. Board, lodging, and transportation at a special work site If an employee received a benefit or an allowance for working at a special work site that is excluded from income, this amount may affect his or her claim for the northern residency deduction. If the employee worked at a special work site in a place in a prescribed zone and maintained his or her principal place of residence in a place outside of a prescribed zone, you will have to identify, on the employee's T4 or T4 A slip, any exempt portion of the board and lodging benefit or allowance. PAGE 29 In the "Other information" area of the T4 slip, enter code 31 and the exempt portion that is related to work sites that are within 30 kilometres from the nearest urban area having a population of at least 40,000 persons. Do not include this in box 14 "Employment income". If you are a third-party payer and are completing a T4A slip for the employee of another employer, enter "Special work site in a prescribed zone" and the amount of the 30-kilometre portion of the excluded benefit in the footnotes area. You have to do this even though you did not include the excluded amount in income. This way, the employee will have all the information required to correctly calculate his or her residency deduction. Example You paid your employee $4,000 for board and lodging at a special work site that is in a prescribed zone. You and the employee completed Form TD4, Declaration of Exemption - Employment at Special Work Site. Since the benefit is not included as income, you did not enter the amount of the benefit in box 14 "Employment income" or in the "Other information" area under code 30 at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip. Of the $4,000 you paid, $1,200 relates to a special work site that was located 27 kilometres from a town with a population of 43,000 people (the 30- kilometre portion). You have to enter $1,200 in the "Other information" area under code 31 at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip, even though it was not entered in the "Other information" area under code 30. The employee will then enter $1,200 on his or her Form T2222, Northern Residents Deductions. Note An amount that is not included as income for allowances at a remote work location does not affect the employee's claim for the northern residency deduction. Travel assistance benefits If you provide an employee with travel assistance in a prescribed zone, the benefit is taxable unless it was for business travel. The travel assistance could be for such things as vacation, bereavement, medical, or compassionate reasons. If employees travel using transportation that you own or charter, determine the value of the benefit by assigning a fair market value to the transportation. When employees travel by some means other than air, the cost of travel may include automobile expenses, meals, hotel and motel accommodation, camping fees, taxi fares, and road and ferry tolls. When you give employees travel assistance benefits other than cash or refundable tickets (such as travel warrants, vouchers, or non-refundable tickets), the employees do not receive any benefit until they or members of their household take the trip. The benefit is income for the employees in the year the trip starts, and you should report it in that year. There are many ways of providing travel assistance benefits. You can pay employees a travel allowance before the trip, such as a certain amount per hour, or on some other periodic basis. You can also make lump-sum payments to your employees before or after the trip is taken. You should report such payments in your employees' income in the year they receive them, no matter when your employees or members of their household travel. You have to report these benefits in box 14 "Employment income" and in the "Other information" area under code 32 at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip. If you are a third party who supplies travel benefits to the employee of another employer, report these benefits in box 28 of a T4A slip. An employee who qualifies for the northern residents travel deduction will use this amount to calculate his or her claim. The number of trips an employee can claim is limited to two per year, unless the trips were for medical reasons. Therefore, you have to show the value of the medical travel benefits separately on the slip, as explained on this page. Where the travel assistance is a taxable benefit, include any applicable GST/HST in the value of the benefit. There is no GST/HST to include in the value of the travel allowances. Medical travel assistance Medical travel includes any trip employees or members of their households take to get medical services that are not available in the area where they live. Medical travel benefits are considered to be the cost of transportation from the place in a prescribed zone to the place where medical treatment is available. Medical travel includes the transportation cost of an attendant if the patient needs one while travelling. You have to identify the value of medical travel benefits you provide to employees. For a T4 slip, enter the medical portion of the travel assistance that you reported under code 32 in the "Other information" area under code 33. For a T4A slip, enter in the footnotes area "Box 28, medical travel" and the medical portion of the travel assistance that you reported in box 28. In box 38, enter code 16. If you do not identify which portion of the benefit was for medical travel, we will consider all travel assistance as vacation (or other) travel and the employee will not be entitled to claim a deduction for medical travel. In addition, we will limit the deduction for the employee and the members of the household to two trips each. Note Amounts you pay or reimburse employees for medical travel or any associated cost under the terms of a private health services plan are not taxable benefits. Payments you make due to an obligation you have under a collective agreement may be considered a private health services plan. These payments must only cover expenses that qualify for the medical tax credit. If this is the case, you should not report them on employees' T4 slips. PAGE 30 For more information, see Interpretation Bulletins IT-339, Meaning of "private health services plan" and IT-519, Medical Expense and Disability Tax Credits and Attendant Care Expense Deduction. Payroll deductions When travel assistance benefits are in the form of non-refundable tickets or travel vouchers, you do not have to make payroll deductions. However, when you give travel assistance in the form of cash, we consider it to be a cash advance, and you have to make payroll deductions. We may waive the requirement for you to deduct tax from the full payment received by an employee who lives in a prescribed northern zone (or from 50% of the payment received by an employee who lives in a prescribed intermediate zone) if the employee agrees in writing, when he or she receives the payment, to use it entirely for vacation or medical travel. If the employee does not agree, you have to deduct income tax. These cash payments are pensionable and insurable whether or not you make tax deductions. This means you have to deduct CPP contributions and EI premiums whether or not we have waived the requirement to deduct tax. Form TD1, Personal Tax Credits Return Employees who live in a prescribed zone during a continuous period of at least six months (that begins or ends in the tax year) may be entitled to claim a residency deduction when filing their return. As a result, these employees may request a reduction in payroll deductions by completing the back of Form TD1, Personal Tax Credits Return. The residency deduction is equal to whichever is less: - one-fifth (or 20%) of their net income for the year; or - the residency amount they can claim. Note Employees cannot claim a residency amount for both the principal place of residence and the special work site for the same period, even if they are both located in prescribed zones. For 2005, employees living in a prescribed northern zone can claim the total of: - a basic residency amount of $7.50 per day for each day they live in the prescribed northern zone; and - an additional residency amount of $7.50 per day for each day they live in and maintain a dwelling in that area, if during that time no one else is claiming a basic residency amount for living in the same dwelling for the same period. For 2005, employees living in a prescribed intermediate zone can claim 50% of the total of the above amounts. Note Employees who receive board and lodging benefits from employment at a special work site in a prescribed zone have to reduce their residency amount by the value of the 30-kilometre portion of the benefit they receive if they maintain a principal residence that is not in a prescribed zone. The 30-km portion of the excluded benefit will be shown in the "Other information" area under code 31 at the bottom of the employee's T4 slip. See "Board, lodging, and transportation at a special work site on page 28. To calculate the amount of tax you should deduct if an employee is claiming a residency deduction on Form TD1: - reduce the residency amount by 50% if the employee lives in a prescribed intermediate zone (if the conditions in the above note apply, reduce the residency amount by the 30-kilometre portion of the excluded board and lodging benefits from employment at a special work site); - divide the employee's net deduction for the year (amount on the back of the TD1 form minus the above adjustments) by the number of pay periods in the year; - subtract the result from his or her gross earnings for each pay period; and - refer to the tax tables that apply. PAGE 31 Chapter 5 - Remitting GST/HST on employee benefits This chapter will help you familiarize yourself with the GST/HST treatment of employee benefits. The Canada Revenue Agency is responsible for administering GST/HST. However, as a result of an agreement between the governments of Canada and Quebec, Revenu Québec administers GST/HST in that province. If your business is located in Quebec, contact a Revenu Québec office for information on the GST/HST treatment of employee benefits. Employee benefits Salaries, wages, commissions, and other cash remuneration (including gratuities) you pay to employees are not subject to GST/HST. However, non- monetary means of compensating employees, commonly referred to as fringe or employee taxable benefits, may be subject to GST/HST. For the most part, the GST/HST treatment of these benefits is based on their treatment under the Income Tax Act. Generally, if a benefit is taxable for income tax purposes, you will be considered to have made a supply of a good or service to the employee. If the good or service that gives rise to the taxable benefit is subject to GST/HST, you are considered to have collected GST/HST on that benefit. However, there are situations where you will not be considered to have collected GST/HST on taxable benefits given to employees. We explain these situations below. Situations where you are not considered to have collected GST/HST You do not have to collect GST/HST on taxable benefits provided to employees in the following situations: - when the goods or services that give rise to a taxable benefit are GST/HST- exempt or zero-rated; - when a taxable benefit results from an allowance included in the income of the employee under paragraph 6(1)(b) of the Income Tax Act, such as an unreasonable allowance for automobile expenses; - when you are restricted from claiming an input tax credit (ITC) for GST/HST you paid or owe on the goods and services which give rise to the taxable benefit (see "ITC restrictions" on page 61); and - when the goods or services that give rise to a taxable benefit are supplied outside Canada. Example You, as a registrant employer, would like to reward an employee for outstanding performance, and have agreed to pay for the hotel accommodation, and three meals a day, for one week, in London, England. An amount will be included in the income of the employee as a taxable benefit. However, you will not be considered to have collected tax with respect to the "benefit" provided to the employee since the supplies were made outside of Canada. In addition, if the taxable benefit is for the standby charge or operating cost benefit of an automobile or aircraft, you do not have to collect GST/HST on this benefit in the following situations: - you are an individual or partnership and the passenger vehicle or the aircraft that you have bought is used less than 90% in the commercial activities of the business; - you are not an individual, a partnership, or a financial institution and the passenger vehicle or aircraft that you bought is used 50% or less in the commercial activities of the business; - you are a financial institution and elect to treat the passenger vehicle or aircraft you lease or have bought as being used exclusively in non-commercial activities of the business (see Note); or - you are not a financial institution and you lease the passenger vehicle or aircraft which you use 50% or more in non-commercial activities of the business, and you elect to treat it as being used 90% or more in such non- commercial activities. Note To make this election, complete Form GST30, Election for Passenger Vehicles or Aircraft to be Deemed to be Used Exclusively in Non-Commercial Activities, or state in writing the information required on the form. You do not have to file this form or statement, but you must keep it with your records for audit purposes. For more information about this election, contact any tax services office or tax centre. When are you considered to have collected GST/HST? You are considered to have collected GST/HST on a taxable benefit subject to GST/HST at the end of February in the year following the year in which you provided the benefit to the employee. This corresponds with the deadline for calculating employee taxable benefits for income tax purposes and for issuing T4 slips. For example, for taxable benefits you provided to your employees during the 2005 tax year, you are considered to have collected GST/HST at the end of February 2006. You have to include this amount in your GST/HST return for the reporting period that includes the last day of February 2006. Example You are a GST/HST registrant and have a monthly reporting period. At the end of February 2006, you calculated the total taxable benefits provided to your employees for 2005, including any GST and PST, or HST. You are considered to have collected GST/HST on the taxable benefits at the end of February 2006. In your February 2006 GST/HST return, you have to include the GST/HST relating to the taxable benefits provided to your employees in 2005. You have to file this return by the end of March 2006. PAGE 32 How do you calculate the amount of GST/HST you are considered to have collected? The amount of GST/HST that you are considered to have collected on a taxable benefit is calculated as a percentage of the value of the benefit for GST/HST purposes. Value of the benefit for GST/HST purposes The value of the benefit for GST/HST purposes is the total of the following two amounts: - the amount reported on the T4 or T4A slip for the benefit; and - if the taxable benefit is for a standby charge or the operating cost of an automobile, the amount, if any, that the employee or the employee's relative reimbursed you for that benefit. Notes When an employee or an employee's relative has reimbursed an amount equal to the entire taxable benefit for a standby charge or the operating cost of an automobile and, as a result, no benefit is reported on the T4 slip, the value of the benefit for GST/HST purposes is equal to the amount of the reimbursement. However, when an employee or an employee's relative has reimbursed an amount for a taxable benefit other than for a standby charge or the operating cost of an automobile, you are considered to have collected an amount equal to 7 over 107 of GST or 15 over 115 of HST on this reimbursement. In this situation, you have to include GST/HST relating to this reimbursement in your GST/HST return for the reporting period that includes the date of the reimbursement. Amount of GST/HST you are considered to have collected The amount of GST/HST considered to be collected depends on whether or not it is calculated for an automobile operating cost benefit. Automobile operating cost benefits If the last establishment where your employee ordinarily worked or to which he or she ordinarily reported in the year is located in a participating province (Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, or New Brunswick), the amount of HST considered to be collected is equal to 11% of the value of the benefit for GST/HST purposes as calculated above. If the last establishment where your employee ordinarily worked or to which he or she ordinarily reported in the year is located in a non-participating province (the rest of Canada), the amount of GST considered to be collected is equal to 5% of the value of the benefit for GST/HST purposes. Benefits other than automobile operating cost If the last establishment where your employee ordinarily worked or to which he or she ordinarily reported in the year is located in a participating province (Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, or New Brunswick), the amount of HST considered to be collected is equal to 14 over 114 of the value of the benefit for GST/HST purposes as calculated above. If the last establishment where your employee ordinarily worked or to which he or she ordinarily reported in the year is located in a non-participating province (the rest of Canada), this amount is equal to 6 over 106 of the value of the benefit for GST/HST purposes. Input tax credits (ITCs) As a registrant, you can claim an ITC to recover GST/HST you paid or owe on the purchases and operating expenses related to your commercial activities. Generally, commercial activities include the supply of taxable goods and services. Taxable goods and services are those that are taxable at the rates of 15%, 7%, and 0%. For more information about what are considered to be commercial activities, see the publication called General Information for GST/HST Registrants (RC4022). For employee benefits, you can usually claim an ITC for the GST/HST you paid or owe on goods and services you supply to your employees or their relatives as a benefit related to your commercial activities. However, in some situations, you will not be able to claim an ITC for the GST/HST you paid or owe for benefits you gave to your employees. For information on these situations, read the rest of this section. ITC restrictions Remember, if you cannot claim an ITC for GST/HST you paid or owe for a taxable benefit, you are not considered to have collected GST/HST and, as a result, you do not have to remit GST/HST on that benefit. Club memberships You may pay or reimburse membership fees or dues for an employee or an employee's relative for any club whose main purpose is to provide dining, recreational, or sporting facilities. In such cases, you cannot claim an ITC for the GST/HST you paid or owe, regardless of whether the club membership fees or dues are a taxable benefit to the employee for income tax purposes. Exclusive personal use You cannot claim an ITC for GST/HST you paid or owe on goods or services you acquire, import, or bring into a participating province for the exclusive personal consumption, use, or enjoyment (90% or more) of an employee or an employee's relative. However, you can claim an ITC in the following cases: - The consumption, use, or enjoyment of the good or service by the employee or the employee's relative does not give rise to a taxable benefit for income tax purposes and no amounts were payable by the employee for this benefit. The most common type of non-taxable benefit is moving expenses paid by an employer. Moving expenses that are considered non-taxable benefits are discussed in "Moving expenses and relocation benefits" on page 19. PAGE 33 - During the same GST/HST reporting period, you make a supply of the good or service to such a person for consideration that becomes due in that period and that is equal to its fair market value plus GST/HST. Property supplied by way of lease, licence, or similar arrangement You cannot claim an ITC for GST/HST you paid or owe on property supplied by way of lease, licence, or similar arrangement that is more than 50% for the personal consumption, use, or enjoyment of one of the following individuals: - if you are an individual, yourself or another individual related to you; - if you are a partnership, an individual who is a partner or another individual who is an employee, officer, or shareholder of, or related to, a partner; - if you are a corporation, an individual who is a shareholder or another individual related to the shareholder; or - if you are a trust, an individual who is a beneficiary or another individual related to the beneficiary. However, you can claim an ITC if, during the same GST/HST reporting period, you make a taxable supply of the property to that individual for consideration that becomes due in that period and that is equal to its fair market value. For more information on ITCs relating to employee benefits, see GST Memorandum G400-3-2, Employee and Shareholder Benefits. Property acquired before 1991 or from a non-registrant If you acquired property before 1991, you did not pay GST/HST. Also, you do not generally pay GST/HST when you acquire property from a non-registrant. As a result, you cannot claim an ITC under these circumstances. However, if you make this property available to your employee and the benefit is taxable for income tax purposes, you may still be considered to have collected GST/HST on this benefit. Example You bought a passenger vehicle from a non-registrant and made it available to your employee throughout 2005. The passenger vehicle is used more than 90% in the commercial activities of your business. You report the value of the benefit, including GST and PST, or HST, on the employee's T4 slip. For GST/HST purposes, you will be considered to have collected GST/HST on this benefit even if you could not claim an ITC on the purchase of the passenger vehicle. Summary The following steps will help you determine whether you have to remit GST/HST on employee benefits. Step 1 - Establish whether the benefit is taxable under the Income Tax Act and subject to GST/HST (see the previous chapters). If the benefit is not taxable or is not subject to GST/HST, you are not considered to have collected any GST/HST on the benefit and, as a result, you will not have to remit GST/HST on the benefit. Step 2 - For each taxable benefit, establish whether any of the "Situations where you are not considered to have collected GST/HST" on page 31 applies. If one of these situations applies, you are not considered to have collected GST/HST on this benefit and, as a result, you will not have to remit any GST/HST on the benefit. Step 3 - If you are considered to have collected GST/HST on a taxable benefit, you have to calculate the amount of GST/HST due (see "How do you calculate the amount of GST/HST you are considered to have collected?" on page 32). Step 4 - Enter the amount of GST/HST due on your GST/HST return and send your remittance, if applicable, with your GST/HST return for the reporting period that includes the last day of February 2006. Note If the GST/HST is for a reimbursement made by an employee or an employee's relative, the amount may be due in a different reporting period. For more information, see the note under "Value of the benefit for GST/HST purposes" on page 32. Employee does not pay GST/HST on taxable benefits The employee does not pay GST/HST you have to remit on taxable benefits. As explained in previous chapters, an amount for GST/HST has already been added to the taxable benefit reported on the employee's T4 slip. PAGE 34 Examples The following examples will help you apply GST/HST rules on employee benefits. Example 1: Automobile benefits in a non-participating province As a corporation registered for GST/HST, you buy a vehicle that is used more than 50% in commercial activities and is made available to your employee during 2005. The last establishment where the employee ordinarily reported in the year for the corporation was located in Ontario. You calculated a taxable benefit (including GST and PST) of $4,800 on the standby charge and an operating cost benefit of $600. Your employee reimbursed you $1,800 for the automobile operating costs within 45 days following the end of 2005. You did not include this amount as a taxable benefit. You claimed an ITC for the purchase of the automobile and also on the operating costs. Since the benefit is taxable under the Income Tax Act, and no situations described on page 58 (where you are not considered to have collected GST on taxable benefits) apply, you calculate the GST remittance as follows: Standby charge benefit Taxable benefit reported on T4 $4,800 GST considered to have been collected on the benefit $4,800 multiplied by 6 over 106 = $271.70 Operating cost benefit Taxable benefit reported on T4 $600 Employee's partial reimbursement of operating costs $1,800 Total value of the benefit $2,400 GST considered to have been collected on the benefit $2,400 multiplied by 5% = $120.00 Total GST to be remitted on the automobile benefit $391.70 You are considered to have collected GST in the amount of $391.70 at the end of February 2006. You have to include this amount on your GST/HST return for the reporting period that includes the last day of February 2006. Example 2: Automobile benefits in a participating province Using the same facts as in Example 1 above, assume that the last establishment to which the employee ordinarily reported in the year for the corporation was located in Nova Scotia. In this case, you would calculate the HST remittance as follows: Standby charge benefit Taxable benefit reported on T4 $4,800 HST considered to have been collected on the benefit $4,800 multiplied by 14 over 114 = $589.47 Operating cost benefit Taxable benefit reported on T4 $600 Employee's partial reimbursement of operating costs $1,800 Total value of the benefit $2,400 HST considered to have been collected on the benefit $2,400 multiplied by 11% = $264.00 Total HST to be remitted on the automobile benefit $853.47 You are considered to have collected HST in the amount of $853.47 at the end of February 2006. You have to include this amount on your GST/HST return for the reporting period that includes the last day of February 2006. Example 3: Long service award You bought a watch for $560 (including GST and PST, or HST) for your employee to mark the employee's 25 years of service. You reported a taxable benefit of $560 in box 14 and under code 40 on the employee's T4 slip. You could not claim an ITC because you bought the watch for the employee's exclusive personal use and enjoyment. Since you cannot claim an ITC, you are not considered to have collected GST/HST and, as a result, you will not have to remit GST/HST on the benefit. Example 4: Special clothing You have provided your employees with safety footwear designed to protect them from particular hazards associated with their employment. Since we do not consider the footwear to be a taxable benefit to the employees for income tax purposes, you are not considered to have collected GST/HST on the footwear and you do not have to remit GST/HST. However, you can claim an ITC for any GST/HST you paid on the footwear. PAGE 35 Benefits chart This chart indicates whether the taxable allowances and benefits discussed in this guide are subject to CPP and EI withholdings, and shows which codes you should use to report them on the employee's T4 slip. The chart also indicates whether GST/HST must be included in the value of the taxable benefit for income tax purposes. Cash reimbursements and non-cash benefits are subject to GST/HST, unless they are for exempt or zero-rated supplies. Cash allowances are not subject to GST/HST. Taxable allowance or benefit Automobile allowances CPP: yes, EI: yes, Code: 40, GST/HST: no Automobile standby charge and operating cost benefits CPP: yes, EI: no, Code: 34, GST/HST: yes Board and lodging, if cash earnings also paid in the pay period CPP: yes, EI: yes, Code: 30, GST/HST: (note 1) Board and lodging, if no cash earnings paid in the pay period CPP: yes, EI: no, Code: 30, GST/HST: (note 1) Cellular phone service - in cash CPP: yes, EI: yes, Code: 40, GST/HST: yes Cellular phone service - non-cash CPP: yes, EI: no, Code: 40, GST/HST: yes Childcare expenses - in cash CPP: yes, EI: yes, Code: 40, GST/HST: yes Childcare expenses - non-cash CPP: yes, EI: no, Code: 40, GST/HST: yes Counselling services - in cash CPP: yes, EI: yes, Code: 40, GST/HST: (note 2) Counselling services - non-cash CPP: yes, EI: no, Code: 40, GST/HST: (note 2) Discounts on merchandise and commissions on sales CPP: yes, EI: no, Code: 40, GST/HST: yes Educational allowances for children CPP: yes, EI: yes, Code: 40, GST/HST: no Gifts, awards, and social events - in cash CPP: yes, EI: yes, Code: 40, GST/HST: no Gifts, awards, and social events - non-cash CPP: yes, EI: no, Code: 40, GST/HST: yes Group term life insurance policies: Employer-paid premiums CPP: yes, EI: no, Code: 40, GST/HST: no Housing, rent-free or low-rent - in cash CPP: yes, EI: yes, Code: 30, GST/HST: (note 3) Housing, rent-free or low-rent - non-cash CPP: yes, EI: (note 4), Code: 30, GST/HST: (note 3) Interest-free and low-interest loans (note 5) CPP: yes, EI: no, Code: 36, GST/HST: no Internet service (at home) - in cash CPP: yes, EI: yes, Code: 40, GST/HST: yes Internet service (at home) - non-cash CPP: yes, EI: no, Code: 40, GST/HST: yes Medical expenses - in cash CPP: yes, EI: yes, Code: 40, GST/HST: (note 6) Medical expenses - non-cash CPP: yes, EI: no, Code: 40, GST/HST: (note 6) Chart continues on next page Notes: 1. The rent portion of the lodging benefit is subject to GST/HST if the dwelling is occupied for less than one month; the utility portion is subject to GST/HST unless municipality-supplied. 2. Certain counselling services are subject to GST/HST. If the services you pay are subject to GST/HST, include it in the value of the benefit. 3. The rent portion of the housing benefit is subject to GST/HST if the dwelling is occupied for less than one month; the utility portion is subject to GST/HST unless municipality-supplied. 4. If it is a non-cash benefit, it is insurable if it is received by the employee in addition to cash earnings in a pay period. If no cash earnings are paid in the pay period, it is not insurable. 5. Enter the home relocation loan deduction under code 37. 6. Some medical expenses are subject to GST/HST. For more information, contact any tax services office or tax centre. PAGE 36 Taxable allowance or benefit - continued Moving expenses and relocation benefits - in cash CPP: yes, EI: yes, Code: 40, GST/HST: yes Moving expenses and relocation benefits - non-cash CPP: yes, EI: no, Code: 40, GST/HST: yes Moving expenses - non-accountable allowance over $650 CPP: yes, EI: yes, Code: 40, GST/HST: no Municipal officer's expense allowance (note 7) CPP: yes, EI: no, Code: 40, GST/HST: no Overtime meal allowances CPP: yes, EI: yes, Code: 40, GST/HST: no Parking - in cash CPP: yes, EI: yes, Code: 40, GST/HST: yes Parking - non-cash CPP: yes, EI: no, Code: 40, GST/HST: yes Premiums under provincial hospitalization, medical care insurance, and certain federal government plans - in cash CPP: yes, EI: yes, Code: 40, GST/HST: no Premiums under provincial hospitalization, medical care insurance, and certain federal government plans - non-cash CPP: yes, EI: no, Code: 40, GST/HST: no Professional fees - in cash CPP: yes, EI: yes, Code: 40, GST/HST: (note 8) Professional fees - non-cash CPP: yes, EI: no, Code: 40, GST/HST: (note 8) Recreational facilities - in cash CPP: yes, EI: yes, Code: 40, GST/HST: yes Recreational facilities - non-cash CPP: yes, EI: no, Code: 40, GST/HST: yes Recreational facilities - club membership dues CPP: yes, EI: no, Code: 40, GST/HST: yes Registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) premiums CPP: yes, EI: yes, Code: 40, GST/HST: no Registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) premiums considered non-cash benefits CPP: yes, EI: no, Code: 40, GST/HST: no Registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) administration fees CPP: yes, EI: yes, Code: 40, GST/HST: (note 8) Scholarships and bursaries CPP: yes, EI: yes, Code: 40, GST/HST: no Security options (note 9) CPP: yes, EI: no, Code: 38, GST/HST: no Spouse or common-law partner's travelling expenses - cash allowance CPP: yes, EI: yes, Code: 40, GST/HST: no Spouse or common-law partner's travelling expenses - non-cash CPP: yes, EI: no, Code: 40, GST/HST: yes Subsidized meals CPP: yes, EI: no, Code: 30, GST/HST: yes Travel assistance in a prescribed zone (note 10) CPP: yes, EI: yes, Code: 32, GST/HST: yes Travelling allowances to a part-time employee and other employees CPP: yes, EI: yes, Code: 40, GST/HST: no Tool allowance CPP: yes, EI: yes, Code: 40, GST/HST: no Tool reimbursement CPP: yes, EI: no, Code: 40, GST/HST: yes Tuition fees - in cash CPP: yes, EI: yes, Code: 40, GST/HST: (note 8) Tuition fees - non-cash CPP: yes, EI: no, Code: 40, GST/HST: (note 8) Uniforms and special clothing - in cash CPP: yes, EI: yes, Code: 40, GST/HST: yes Uniforms and special clothing - non-cash CPP: yes, EI: no, Code: 40, GST/HST: yes Wage-loss replacement or income maintenance non-group plan premiums CPP: yes, EI: no, Code: 40, GST/HST: no Notes: 7. Enter the exempt amount under code 70. 8. Certain fees are subject to GST/HST. If the fees you pay are subject to GST/HST, include it in the value of the benefit. 9. Enter the amount of the security options deduction under code 39 or 41, as applicable. 10. Enter the amount of medical travel assistance under code 33.