I can appriciate that you have not been able to find a CRA comment regarding your question. CRA does not comment on questions that appear to have no basis in the Income Tax Act. If you want to obtain an authoritative answer to your question, you should consult a tax lawyer. Even if CRA would respond to your question, the courts have said that CRA cannot be held to commentary provided by CRA employees.
As an intermediary step, You could consult with the legal department of the Canadian Council of Christian Charities if your church is a member. They provide answers to their members churches and organizations free of charge.
Jeff, I respectfully disagree with you. How you categorise expendutures in the church budget has no bearing on the tax treatment of the expense. It is purely a matter of fact whether an expense is a taxable benefit or not. This is overned exclusively by the provisions of the Income Tax Act and CRA's administrative practices. As Reg said above, this has never been a problem for employees in the for-profit sector. Only the employer is prevented from claiming a deduction of more than 50% of the meal. If that same 50% would then also be taxed in the hands of the employee, that would constitute double taxation.
The reasonable free meals for pastors is not an issue and we should not make it one.
If a pastor meets a member or members of the congregation over coffee or a meal, there is no personal portion that should be declared as a taxable benefit by the church.
You may be confusing the eligibility of the business employer to deduct the full cost of the meal with a requirement to treat a portion of the meal as personal income on the part of the employee. An employer may claom only 50% of the meal as a cost of business deduction, but that 50% is not added to the business employee's T4.
Since the restriction applies only to for-profit entities, charities and churches are not affected.
Posted in: Pastor Reimbursement of meals-Should his portion be a taxable benefit? (Canadian)?
I can appriciate that you have not been able to find a CRA comment regarding your question. CRA does not comment on questions that appear to have no basis in the Income Tax Act. If you want to obtain an authoritative answer to your question, you should consult a tax lawyer. Even if CRA would respond to your question, the courts have said that CRA cannot be held to commentary provided by CRA employees.
As an intermediary step, You could consult with the legal department of the Canadian Council of Christian Charities if your church is a member. They provide answers to their members churches and organizations free of charge.
Posted in: Pastor Reimbursement of meals-Should his portion be a taxable benefit? (Canadian)?
Jeff, I respectfully disagree with you. How you categorise expendutures in the church budget has no bearing on the tax treatment of the expense. It is purely a matter of fact whether an expense is a taxable benefit or not. This is overned exclusively by the provisions of the Income Tax Act and CRA's administrative practices. As Reg said above, this has never been a problem for employees in the for-profit sector. Only the employer is prevented from claiming a deduction of more than 50% of the meal. If that same 50% would then also be taxed in the hands of the employee, that would constitute double taxation.
The reasonable free meals for pastors is not an issue and we should not make it one.
Posted in: Pastor Reimbursement of meals-Should his portion be a taxable benefit? (Canadian)?
If a pastor meets a member or members of the congregation over coffee or a meal, there is no personal portion that should be declared as a taxable benefit by the church.
You may be confusing the eligibility of the business employer to deduct the full cost of the meal with a requirement to treat a portion of the meal as personal income on the part of the employee. An employer may claom only 50% of the meal as a cost of business deduction, but that 50% is not added to the business employee's T4.
Since the restriction applies only to for-profit entities, charities and churches are not affected.