On April 22, 2020, the Canada Revenue
Agency (“CRA”) indicated that it would allow special favorable tax treatment to
employees working from home during the COVID-19 crisis.[1]
In particular, the CRA will accept that
the reimbursement of an employee, for amounts spent on personal computer
equipment to enable the employee to work from home, mainly benefits the
employer. As a result, the reimbursed amount will not be a taxable benefit to
the employee. This relief is to apply
for amounts up to $500 and only in respect of amounts for which the employee
provides receipts.
In the normal course, an employer can
provide an employee with an allowance for home office expenses, which is a
taxable benefit for the employee.[2] Alternatively, the employer can decide to
reimburse an employee expense upon presentation of an invoice, in which case
the reimbursement will be a taxable benefit if it primarily benefits the
employee rather than the employer.[3] Usually if an employee receives a
reimbursement for home office equipment, it is characterized as a personal
expense, primarily for the employee’s benefit, and therefore a taxable benefit.
The CRA’s announcement does not change
the tax consequences for employers. An
employer providing an employee with reimbursements for home office expenses,
even certain capital expenses such as the acquisition of tools, will normally
be entitled to deduct the full amount of the reimbursements as a business
expense, provided the amount is reasonable in the circumstances.[4]
[2] See CRA Interpretation, 2011-0402581I7 —
Allowance for workspace in the home, July 12, 2011. See also, CRA,
Interpretation Bulletin, IT-352R2 — Employee’s Expenses, Including Work Space
in Home Expenses, August 26, 1994.
[3] See CRA, Tech Interp, 1999-0013955 —
Construction and expenses — workspace, February 3, 2000.
Further to the announcement on March 27, 2020 that GST/HST and Customs
Duties payment deadlines would be extended due to the COVID pandemic, the
Canada Revenue Agency has provided some additional guidance in the form of a
Question and Answer document posted on the Canada Revenue Agency website.
The document deals with the delays granted to payments of tax, but also to questions of the processing of returns, the payment of refunds and the granting of rebates. One of the key things for all taxpayers to remember is that the due dates for the filing of returns has not changed, only the requirement to make payments of tax without incurring interest charges or penalties has changed. Excise taxes and duties are all still due at the ordinary times.
Do not hesitate to contact us if you need further information about the changes to your tax obligations during the COVID Pandemic.
During the week of March 23, 2020, the Canadian and Quebec governments
announced a series of additional tax measures to further strengthen the economy
in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. A number of procedural
announcements relating to statutory deadlines and limitation periods have also
been made by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and Quebec Revenue Agency (Revenu
Québec). A summary of these new measures is provided below. Summaries of
previously announced measures may be accessed here (Canada) and here (Quebec).
Federal
Taxation of the Canada Emergency
Response Benefit (CERB)
The federal
government announced the introduction of the CERB on March 18, 2020. The CERB
will provide a taxable benefit of $2,000 a month for up to 4 months to support
workers (including self-employed individuals) who lose their income as a result
of the COVID-19 pandemic. Following conflicting reports in this regard, the
government confirmed on March 27, 2020 that the CERB will be taxable for
claimants, but that no income tax withholding will be made on the CERB by the
federal government.
Enhanced Temporary Wage Subsidy for
Eligible Employers
On March 18, 2020,
the federal government announced that a temporary wage subsidy (TWS) would be
introduced for eligible employers in an amount equal to 10% of salary and other
remuneration paid to Canadian employees. The stated purpose of the TWS is to
help Canadians remain employed. It improves the cash flow of eligible employers
(which include Canadian-controlled private corporations eligible for the small
business deduction, individuals other than trusts, certain partnerships,
non-profit organizations and registered charities) by allowing them to deduct
the amount of the subsidy from periodic source deduction remittances payable to
the CRA over the coming months. The maximum subsidy was initially set at $1,375
per employee, and $25,000 per employer.
On March 27, 2020,
Prime Minister Trudeau announced that the amount of the TWS will be increased
to 75% (as opposed to 10%) of salary and other remuneration paid to Canadian
employees. It remains to be seen whether the maximum subsidy of $1,375 per
employee and $25,000 per employer will be increased as well.
Further details in
this regard will be provided once they become available.
Postponement of GST/HST Remittances
The federal
government is deferring remittances of the following amounts to June 30, 2020:
Goods and Services Tax (GST)/Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) owing in respect of the February, March and April 2020 reporting periods, for monthly filers;
GST/HST owing in respect of the January 1, 2020 through March 31, 2020 reporting period, for quarterly filers; and
GST/HST owing in respect of the previous fiscal year and installments of GST/HST in respect of the current fiscal year, for annual filers whose GST/HST return or installment is due in March, April or May 2020.
This relief measure
does not clearly address the situation of certain registrants, such as those
who file on a quarterly basis but whose fiscal year-end is not December 31.
Such businesses should contact the CRA to confirm whether they benefit from the
deferral.
The proposed
measure also does not appear to extend the deadline for filing GST/HST returns.
Directors of
corporate taxpayers should bear in mind that they may be held jointly and
severally liable to pay any unremitted GST/HST, as well as any interest or
penalties relating thereto.
Postponement of Import GST and
Customs Duty Payments
The federal
government has also announced that it is deferring the payment deadline for
import GST and customs duties in respect of March, April and May statements of
accounts until June 30, 2020.
Filing Notices of Objection with CRA
On March 28, 2020,
the CRA announced that the deadline for filing notices of objection due March
18, 2020 or later would be extended until June 30, 2020.
Tax Court of Canada Procedures
On March 23, 2020,
the Tax Court of Canada (TCC) released a Practice Direction
and Order announcing that all sittings and conferences calls scheduled
between March 16, 2020 and May 1, 2020 inclusively are cancelled and that the
Court and its Registry offices will be closed until further notice.
The TCC also
announced that it is suspending, from March 16, 2020 to May 1, 2020, the time
limits provided for in the Tax Court of Canada Rules and any TCC orders and directions
made prior to March 16, 2020.
The statutory
deadlines for filing notices of appeal from income tax assessments and
reassessments and GST assessments and reassessments continue to apply.
The notices of appeal required to be filed within these statutory deadlines
must be filed electronically or by telecopier. Where no statutory
deadline applies, taxpayers are asked to wait and file their notices of appeal
once the Court resumes its operations.
Quebec
Postponement of QST Returns and
Remittances
In Information
Bulletin 2020-5 dated March
27, 2020, the Quebec government announced that it would allow businesses to
postpone the filing of Québec Sales Tax (QST) returns and the remittance of QST
due between March 27, 2020 (inclusively) and June 30, 2020. As mentioned above,
it does not appear that the equivalent federal relief measure extends the
filing deadline for GST/HST returns. Given that Quebec taxpayers report GST and
QST on the same return, it is not clear whether any substantial relief will be
afforded to them from a reporting standpoint. Further information regarding the
possible harmonization of the federal and Quebec relief measures is expected in
the coming days.
Directors of
corporate taxpayers should bear in mind that they may be held jointly and
severally liable to pay any unremitted QST, as well as any interest or
penalties relating thereto.
Acceleration of Tax Credits and Tax
Refunds
In a press release dated March
27, 2020, Revenu Québec announced that it would accelerate the processing of
tax credits and tax refunds claimed by businesses. No specific timeline has
been announced in this regard.
Filing Corporate Income Tax Returns
and Notices of Objection with Revenu Québec
Revenu Québec also
announced in the above-mentioned press release that the deadline to take
“administrative tax actions” (gestes fiscaux administratifs)
will be extended to June 1, 2020.
The press release
clarifies that this measure applies to corporate income tax returns that would
otherwise be due between March 27 and June 1, 2020. Interest and penalties are
therefore not expected to apply during such period in respect of such returns.
No further
clarification is provided with respect to other administrative tax actions
targeted by this measure. Although it may arguably include the filing of a
notice of objection, absent specific legislative action or further
clarification from Revenu Québec, it is recommended that taxpayers continue to
file such notices by the 90-day statutory deadline to preserve their right to
challenge any notice of assessment or reassessment.
With the increase in working at home arrangements due to
current events, employers and their employees may have questions about the tax
treatment of home office expenses for these employees.
Generally, an employer can compensate an employee for home
office expenses by way of an allowance or a reimbursement. An employee can also
be given an “accountable” advance which is treated as a reimbursement assuming
that the employee can provide itemized receipts and the balance is returned to
the employer.
If an employee receives an allowance or if he or she pays
for the expenses out-of-pocket, then the expenses may be deductible subject to
certain requirements discussed below. If an allowance or reimbursement is
considered a taxable benefit and not deductible to the employee, the employer
can mitigate the cost to the employee by compensating the employee for the
additional tax but will have to do so on a “gross up” basis as paying an
employee’s tax is also itself a taxable benefit.
On March 18, 2020, the Canadian government announced economic measures to help stabilize the Canadian economy in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These measures are intended to provide up to $27 billion in direct support to Canadian workers and businesses. This newsflash will provide a brief summary of the key tax measures that were included with this announcement. Similar measures were announced on March 17, 2020 by the Quebec government. Fasken commentary on the Quebec measures can also be found on our website.
Tax Return Filing Deadlines
With 2019 tax return filing deadlines approaching, the Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) will defer the filing due date for the 2019 tax returns of individuals, including certain trusts. For certain individuals (other than trusts), the return filing due date will be deferred from April 30 until June 1, 2020. Self-employed individuals (and their spouses) are unaffected by these measures as the filing due date for 2019 tax returns remains June 15, 2020.
For trusts having a taxation year ending on December 31, 2019, the return filing due date will be extended from March 30, 2020 to May 1, 2020.
Upcoming Income Tax Liabilities
CRA will permit all taxpayers (including businesses) to defer, until after August 31, 2020, the payment of any amounts on account their income tax liabilities that become owing on or after March 18, 2020 and before September, 2020. This relief applies to income tax balances due, as well as instalments on account of such taxes. CRA will not charge interest or penalties on these amounts during this period.
It should be noted that the timing of payment of other Canadian taxes including GST/HST, payroll taxes and non-resident withholding taxes are not deferred.
Suspension of Audit Activity
CRA will not contact any small or medium businesses to initiate any post assessment GST/HST or income tax audits for the next four weeks (ending April 15, 2020) and the CRA will temporarily suspend audit interaction with taxpayers and representatives for the “vast majority of businesses”.
Other Tax Proposals
Unlike the administrative relief described above, some of the measures announced require Parliamentary approval. The Canadian government has proposed to provide a special payment by early May 2020 through the Goods and Services Tax credit (“GSTC”). The proposal is to double the maximum annual GSTC payment amounts for the 2019-20 benefit year. The Minister of Finance (Canada) estimates that the average increase to income for those benefiting from this measure will be approximately $400 for single individuals and nearly $600 for couples.
The Canadian government is also proposing to increase the maximum annual Canada Child Benefit (“CCB”) payment amounts for the 2019-20 benefit year by $300 per child.
Finally, these measures contain a proposal to provide “eligible small employers” a wage subsidy for a period of three months. The announcement states that eligible small employers will include corporations eligible for the small business deduction, as well as non-profit organizations and charities but provides no further specifics. The proposed subsidy is to be equal to 10% of remuneration paid during that period, up to a maximum subsidy of $1,375 per employee and $25,000 per employer. The announcement does not stipulate when the three month period will begin but provides that eligible businesses will be able to deduct the amount of such subsidy from the income tax withholdings that they would otherwise remit in respect of their employees’ remuneration.
Canada’s prime minister indicated that all of the major political parties in Parliament support these measures and will likely reconvene Parliament to approve them in the coming days.
