CRA updated several administrative policies in respect of employment benefits, effective January 1, 2022. Two of the key changes relate to employee gifts and parking. These updates were released in late 2022.
Gifts, awards and long-service awards
Under CRA’s existing gifts and awards administrative policy, the first $500 of annual gifts and awards provided to arm’s length employees is non-taxable. This policy does not apply to cash or near-cash gifts. Historically, CRA had considered all gift cards to be cash or near-cash gifts and, therefore, a taxable benefit.
However, CRA will now accept certain gift cards to be non-cash and eligible to be a non-taxable benefit provided all of the following requirements are met:
- the gift card comes with money already on it which the terms clearly state cannot be converted to cash;
- the use of the gift card is limited to purchases from a single retailer or a group of retailers identified on the card;
- the employer maintains a log to record all of the following details:
- name of the employee;
- date the gift card was provided;
- reason for providing the gift card to the employee (e.g. gift, award, social event);
- type and amount of gift card; and
- name of retailer(s) at which the gift card can be used.
Parking
Generally, employer provided parking is a taxable benefit to employees unless a particular exception applies, such as where there is scramble parking. As a COVID-19 relieving measure, CRA stated that where there was a closure of the place of employment (including situations where employees were given the option to work from home full-time) due to COVID-19 between March 15, 2020 and December 31, 2022, no taxable benefit arose in respect of employer-provided parking in this period. When the employee returns to their regular place of employment to perform their duties, including returning on a part-time basis, the policy no longer applies, meaning that the parking benefit becomes taxable (unless another exception applies).
CRA also discussed many other policies related to parking benefits, such as the exception for scramble parking such that no taxable benefit arises. This policy requires that parking spaces are not assigned and are available to all employees who want to park. Not more than two parking spaces can be available for every three employees who want to park. CRA indicated that this ratio would be based on the average number of parking spaces and employees, calculated at least annually, with a recalculation if there is a significant change.
ACTION: Consider whether these updates will affect the taxability of current benefits offered.
