If you don’t want to get in trouble, do what CRA says. Don’t believe what the gov’t PR flacks are saying until Canadian Revenue Agency clarifies. They are Liberals, never believe what comes out their pie-hole.
Ask your employer if s/he’s tracking the discounts and be prepared to pay taxes on the remainder next year.
So are they going to consider meals in the Parliamentary restaurant, their transport to and from work, travel on DND aircraft and their office allowance as taxable benefits too? Or will this just apply to us little people who are not entitled to our entitlements?
This is nothing but a publicity stunt. The CRA is being used here. And we’re falling for it.
Whats that? It’s a bird, it’s a plane…its Super Justin to save the day!
I guarantee within a week he will say that his government loves the middle class and won’t let the big, bad, faceless CRA take our hard earned money. Thereby gaining a couple points in the polls where they’ve fallen out of favour.
John Davis, you are probably right. The average Canadian voter has the political savvy of a gnat.
Any time a government issues an assurance that “this is not the intent of the legislation”, the only effective response is loud and unremitting demands to “Then, withdraw the f*&^%$g thing!”
But that, demands or withdrawal, rarely happens. So a couple of years down the road, quietly and incrementally, the ticks start latching on to their original targets.
twice a year, I can go to mark’s to get a new pair of steel toe work boots that is mandatory for my job. The company I work for pays marks directly, and then at some point in the future bill me for the value of the boots, and provides me with a 1/3rd rebate on the cost, which is taxable.
this is not a new thing, they are just expanding it as much as possible
“If you’ve got an employee discount that is not available to the public at any point in time, then it will be categorized as a taxable benefit,” Mendicino said.”
So every business that can will now offer an “employee discount sale day” and thereby skirt the new rules because it’s a benefit offered to everyone, not just the employees.
If a discount is a taxable benefit then why is it only being applied to employees of the company giving the discounts?
Whose business is it what a business owner sells his product to and for how much. I thought we had FREE enterprise in this county. This will be hard to enforce. It’s another government overreach.
one needs to take ANYTHING that ANY politishun from ANY party says with an enormous 50 tonne grain of salt.
make sure its real salt too.
the only taxable benefit Im getting right now is my freebie university tuition based on senior discount.
regarding taxes in general, last year was the 4th time in a row I wrote off EVERYTHING via rental property deductions.
Is the money from the tooth fairy going to be taxable?
Easter bunny chocolate? How about those Christmas Advent Calendars with the liquor inside the little chocolate bottles?
Halloween candy?
If my kids split their halloween candy this year, will this be the last year they’re able to split the tax on this candy’s worth?
When I worked at the sawmill, we were able to buy dimensional wood at a discount, is this a retail thing only, or does it apply to all spiffs? And how about the boots that are provided for some construction workers?
In each of the past few years my Christmas bonus has consisted of a $50 gift card for Sobey’s. I’m not complaining, we all have to eat, but I doubt I’ll claim that one. How about if my boss drives me to work some days? Do I need to value that at a percentage of what it’d be for a taxi ride? or only a public transit fare?
as if ! …
zip. nada. taxes owing zilch. and, get this, Ive got stuff left over from last year to get started on this years deductions.
all documented, some via several means.
there. see how to get past the filter there folks? bust it up!!!
this is not a new thing
For you Jaedo, its not.
But for a substantial number of Canadians working in the minimum wage retail/service sector, it is.
We were used to calling these positions “entry level” jobs because the economy was growing and the labor pool was expanding.
That’s not the case now, with a shrinking economy and a shrinking labor market due to larger companies and corporations downsizing due to economic headwinds or competitive disadvantage.(Amazon vs Sears, Suncor vs Exxon’ as examples)
And as these displaced workers reenter the job market, often these minimum wage positions are the only options available due to local and /or personal choices (housing, schools,etc)
Then they get kicked, Maduro style, by little potato et al. Because the company store gave them a deal. Wow, that’s an answer to this country’s economic woes.
I want to agree with John Davis but if they think they can ram thru a carbon tax, this is small potatoes, and they don’t care.
If you are not allowed to make black people sit in the back of the bus, how long did you think it would be before government told you what your prices should be and tax the difference? Everything starts as sounding like a good idea at the time.
“…I thought we had FREE enterprise …”
I wonder why you thought that.
Next, taxes on my Canadian Tire money. I have the super card which probably not even all their employees have. So the Rewards money is not given to the general public as such and must be taxed.
Instead of an employee discount, just charge everyone else a non employee premium and the problem goes away.
Maybe I read wrong, however I believe CRC has pulled the plug on employee discounts.
https://globalnews.ca/news/3797196/tax-changes-employee-discount/
Imagine that, all the people who voted for pm sock puppet, reaping the rewards of their stupidity. I love it.
Well, TrueDOPE has come to the rescue of these over-taxed, low-income workers.
It is ALL the fault of the CRA, says the minister in charge
http://www.torontosun.com/2017/10/10/dont-be-surprised-by-liberal-taxation-hypocrisy
CRA is right in that such “perks” have always been considered a taxable benefit unless under specific circumstances. They just haven’t cracked down on same except for situations where the compliance thereof was reasonably easy to obtain – as in the employer could determine the benefit per employee without undue record-keeping. Now it seems they’re going beyond that. I do like the concept of an annual “employee pricing day” open to the public – would go for quarterly discounts if it would keep CRA off my back. Am looking at a bookkeeping client who does give employee (and sometimes other) discounts, and it would be a nightmare to figure out each employee’s “taxable benefit”. Not to mention a horrendous cost to the employer.
On the other hand, if the airlines companies perks for their employees – which can reach into the thousands of dollars and are much easily traceable – were to be taxed, wouldn’t harsh my mallow. A few bags of cat food vs a few trips to Hawaii – what’s the difference?
What give a Politician 50 tons of salt? He will just sell it to the Federal Government and they will get 13 % for GST!
I am surprised Shiny Socks hasn’t hinted at a tax on lottery winnings.
But then again, the big jackpots are basically transfer payments to Ontario and Quebec, so I guess that answers my question.
For those wanting to know the current rules on employee benefits:
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/publications/t4130/employers-guide-taxable-benefits-allowances.html
And this, from the prior Canada dot ca page, that links to that document, shows, yes the rules are under review (and that assuredly means Ministerial level) : “Please note that Folio S2-F3-C2, Benefits and Allowances Received from Employment, is currently under review. Employers should continue to follow current practices consistent with the information available in Guide T4130, Employers’ Guide – Taxable Benefits and Allowances.”
Safety gear is non-taxable, or at least it used to be.
Actually there are cases where a taxpayer relied on advice from CRA people to file his taxes, but the advice was wrong and he had to pay more later. The courts will uphold what the law says, not what the CRA employees said.
Regarding your posting: “employee pricing day”
Ford does this once a year, I took it at first just as a sales gimmick, perhaps it was
to protect their employees from this greedy tax. Perhaps it’s both.
Let’s see now, two days off a week should be a taxable benefit … shouldn’t it … how much is a day off worth? Just put a value on being home with family and tax it eh? How about breathing the canadian government air … what is that worth? It won’t end until the guns come out and this explains why, from time to time, the guns NEED to come out. Politicians are like children they never stop pushing the envelope to find out just how much they can get away with. It is up to us to stop them before we are all enslaved … it may already be too late.
CRA came after Federal Employees a number of years ago. If you get to use a government vehicle to travel to and from work or if you had free parking on government property, that was considered a taxable benefit that had to be reported.