18 May 1999 Internal T.I. 9910047 - EMERGENCY VOLUNTEER DEDUCTION

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: Is volunteer employee of private ambulance company entitled to 8(1)(a) deduction.

Position: No

Reasons: Employer must be government, municipality or public authority; unless private company is agent for municipality, there is no deduction.

		May 18, 1999

	XXXXXXXXXX  Tax Services Office	HEADQUARTERS
D. Duff
	Attention: XXXXXXXXXX
	               Client Services
		991004

Proposed Deduction for Emergency Volunteers

This is in response to your memorandum of April 14, 1999, regarding the application of proposed paragraph 8(1)(a) of the Income Tax Act (the “Act”) to amounts paid to volunteers of a private ambulance company.

Facts

XXXXXXXXXX

Our Comments

You referred to section 6 of the Act, however, subparagraph 6(1)(b)(viii) of the Act is being repealed and replaced by proposed paragraph 8(1)(a). Subparagraph 6(1)(b)(viii) exempted from income those allowances paid to volunteer firemen by “...a government, municipality, or other public authority...” to a maximum of $500. Proposed paragraph 8(1)(a) provides a deduction of up to $1,000 for such amounts paid by “...a government, municipality, or other public authority...” to the extent it is included in employment income and is for volunteer duties as an ambulance technician, firefighter or search and rescue individual. This change is effective for the 1998 taxation year.

For an employee to be eligible for the deduction, proposed paragraph 8(1)(a) of the Act clearly requires the employer to be a government, municipality or public authority. In our view, a company that has a contract to provide ambulance service for a municipality would not be a public authority. If the employer of these volunteers is a private company providing such services, the employees will not be entitled to this deduction. They would be entitled to the deduction if the municipality was the employer and the private company was simply paying them on behalf of the municipality, or if the private company was acting as an agent for the municipality in employing them. It would seem that individuals would normally volunteer their services for their community or municipality and not to a private company. However, if XXXXXXXXXX is the employer in this situation, this individual would not be entitled to the deduction.

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