1 April 1999 External T.I. 9906565 - SPECIAL WORK SITE

Please note that the following document, although believed to be correct at the time of issue, may not represent the current position of the CRA.
Prenez note que ce document, bien qu'exact au moment émis, peut ne pas représenter la position actuelle de l'ARC.

Please note that the following document, although believed to be correct at the time of issue, may not represent the current position of the Department.

Prenez note que ce document, bien qu'exact au moment émis, peut ne pas représenter la position actuelle du ministère.

Principal Issues: Correction of prior opinion # 982328 stating subsection 6(6) doesn't exempt employment in a temporary position by an employer in a distant location.

Position: Subsection 6(6) may apply in a situation where a taxpayer is hired to a temporary position by an employer in a distant location.

Reasons: Wording of the subsection allows such employment.

XXXXXXXXXX 			990656
D. Shugar
Attention:XXXXXXXXXX 

April 1, 1999

Dear Sirs:

In a letter dated December 7, 1998 (our file number 982328) which was in response to your letter of September 7, 1998, the Department gave an opinion with respect to the application of subsection 6(6) in circumstances where an individual was hired for one year by XXXXXXXXXX to assist in the relocation of machinery and training of maintenance personnel.

In that letter, our view was that the $XXXXXXXXXX per hour pay increase appeared to be employee salary or wages which should be included in income under subsection 5(1) of the Act. We also stated that XXXXXXXXXX place of business in XXXXXXXXXX would not qualify as a special work site under subsection 6(6) of the Act.

Although the conclusion reached in our previous letter has not changed, that is, the employee was in receipt of salary or wages, rather than an allowance, we have reconsidered our comments given to you regarding special work sites, and are writing to inform you that our previous comments were in error.

In our view, an individual can accept temporary employment with an employer that is located at a distant location and be eligible for the exemption under subsection 6(6).

Paragraph 6 of Interpretation Bulletin IT-91R4 says " 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."

In your situation, the employee accepted employment for a period of one year in XXXXXXXXXX. The employee maintained a residence on XXXXXXXXXX where his family continued to reside. It appears that the employee has satisfied the conditions of subparagraph 6(6)(a)(i), and the work location would qualify as a special work site.

Although the work location in XXXXXXXXXX may qualify as a special work site, as the employee in question received salary or wages, rather than an allowance, the exemption under subsection 6(6) of the Act is still not available.

We apologize for any inconvenience that our previous comments may have caused.

Yours truly,

Roberta Albert, CA
for Director
Business and Publications Division
Income Tax Rulings and
Interpretations Directorate
Policy and Legislation Branch