Hi all,
I am in a pretty particular situation and would need support to make sure I properly understand the taxes requirements for my situation, OR suggestions on which professional to consult on this subject?
So, I work for a company in QC as a Site Supervisor which means my job is to work away from the office for 20 days / month on a work site in BC. I then come back home in QC for 10 days off and then start it over again. My company pays me a daily Living Out Allowance (LOA) for the days I am away (it covers my rent of an apartment in the town where my work site is, my meals, daily expenses, etc.).
I have always been under the impression that those allowances weren’t taxable. This what pretty much everybody I work with is saying, but I feel nobody really dug into it. According to what I found on CRA’s website, everybody might be wrong:
Employee at a Special work siteAn employer can exclude from income the value of board and lodging, or the reasonable allowance for board and lodging, if all the following conditions are met:
1) The employee’s duties required them to be away from their principal place of residence.
2) The work at the special work site was of a
temporary nature.
3) The employee kept, at another location, a self-contained domestic establishment as his or her principal place of residence which:
Was available for the employee’s occupancy, and the employee did not rent it to any other person; and
Due to distance, the employee could not reasonably be expected to return daily from the special work site.
4) The employee had to be away 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.
If the conditions are met, a TD4 form (Declaration of Exemption) must be completed. The result is that the benefit is excluded from the employees T4.
My question is regarding point 2) :
temporary nature6. The term
“temporary” is not defined in the Income Tax Act. However, as a general rule, duties will be considered to be of a temporary nature if it can reasonably be expected that they will not provide continuous employment beyond a period of
two years.
I am supposed to be there for more than 2 years, on and off (20 days in / 10 out). My understanding is that my LOA might be taxable, which makes a big big big difference for me. Do I have the right understanding? Or does the in and out makes it non-continuous?
Reference :
www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/publications/it91r4/archived-employment-special-work-sites-remote-work-locations.htmlThanks