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.
Principal Issues: 1) Whether filing a T2201 is a requirement in order to claim nursing home expenses as medical expenses. 2) Whether a lodging expense is a requirement for making a meals deduction under paragraph 8(1)(g). 3) What is the number of hours that a transport employee has to be away from town in order to qualify for the meals deduction under paragraph 8(1)(g).
Position: 1) For a claim under paragraph 118.2(2)(b) yes and under 118(2)(d) a medical practitioner may certify the patient's mental capacity in either a letter or by completing Form T2201. 2) The CRA is prepared to allow a deduction for meals only, even though no disbursement has been made for lodging, provided the duties of employment required the employee to stay away overnight and the employee can demonstrate that, rather than paying for lodging, he or she used other facilities. 3) The Canada Revenue Agency is generally prepared to allow a maximum of one meal after every four hours from the departure time to a maximum of three meals per day. A claim for meals will be allowed to the extent the number of meals in a day is reasonable, which will depend on the number of hours the employee was away from home in the course of the employment duties.
Reasons: 1) legislation. 2) IC 73-21R8, Claims for Meals and Lodging Expenses of Transport Employees, paragraph 3. 3) IC 73-21R8, paragraph 14
Charles Rafuse
XXXXXXXXXX (613) 957-8967
2005-014962
October 26, 2005
Dear XXXXXXXXXX:
Re: Nursing Home Deduction and Meals and Lodging forTransportEmployees
We are writing in response to your emails of June 2 and June 6 and September 1, 2005, concerning the nursing home deduction and the meals and lodging deduction for transport employees.
Specifically, you have requested our opinion whether filing a T2201 is a requirement in order to claim nursing home expenses as medical expenses. You have also asked what is the number of hours that a transport employee has to be away from town in order to qualify for the meals deduction. In addition, you asked whether a lodging expense is a requirement for making a meals deduction.
Under paragraph 118.2(2)(b) of the Income Tax Act, qualifying medical expenses include amounts paid for the "full-time care in a nursing home," where the patient has a severe and prolonged mental or physical impairment that has been certified in prescribed form by a medical doctor. Under paragraph 118.2(2)(d) of the Act, qualifying medical expenses include amounts paid for the "full-time care in a nursing home" of an individual who has been certified by a qualified medical practitioner to be a person who, by reason of lack of normal mental capacity is, and in the foreseeable future will continue to be, dependent on others for his or her personal needs and care.
In order for nursing home expenses to be claimed on behalf of an individual under paragraph 118.2(2)(b), the individual must be eligible for the disability tax credit under subsection 118.3(1) of the Act. This provision provides, among other things, that the individual must have a severe and prolonged mental or physical impairment, the effects of which are such that the individual's ability to perform a basic activity of daily living is markedly restricted. An individual's condition must be certified by a medical doctor or an optometrist, in the case of a blind individual, using Form T2201, Disability Tax Credit Certificate.
In order to make a claim under paragraph 118.2(2)(d), the patient must have a lack of normal mental capacity which makes him or her dependent on others for personal needs and care, now and in the foreseeable future. A medical practitioner may certify the patient's mental capacity in either a letter or by completing Form T2201.
Under paragraph 8(1)(g) of the Act, an employee who works for an employer whose principal business is the transportation of passengers, goods, or both, may be entitled to a deduction for meals and lodging. Individuals must satisfy certain conditions to be able to claim expenses under this paragraph. Their duties of employment must require that they regularly travel away from the municipality where the employer's establishment to which the taxpayer reported to work is located and its metropolitan area, if there is one, and while so away, make disbursements for meals and lodging.
As indicated in paragraph 3 of IC 73-21R8, Claims for Meals and Lodging Expenses of Transport Employees, the CRA "is prepared to allow a deduction for meals only, even though no disbursement has been made for lodging, provided the duties of employment required the employee to stay away overnight and the employee can demonstrate that, rather than paying for lodging, he or she used other facilities. This may be the case where a transport employee uses a truck equipped with a sleeper cab."
Although paragraph 8(1)(g) contemplates journeys of substantive duration, the CRA is generally prepared to allow a maximum of one meal after every four hours from the departure time to a maximum of three meals per day. An example is provided in IC 73-21R8 as follows, "Where the shorter journey is scheduled for ten hours or less, the CCRA would expect the transport employee to eat breakfast and dinner meals at home, as is the case with most other employees. Accordingly, only one meal per day, namely lunch, will be permitted in these circumstances." This conclusion was made because it is reasonable to conclude that the employee would have consumed breakfast at home, incurred a lunch outside the home municipality and then had diner after returning. In addition, for a trip of ten hours or less, there would probably be more than two hours of travelling within the home municipality or its metropolitan area and thus there would be only one four hour period for allowing a meal deduction under the aforementioned policy.
Another example of the meal calculation is provided in paragraph 11of IC 73-21R8. This is an example of a trip where an employee leaves on June 15 at 7:00 and returns on June 17 at 16:00. The number of meals allowed for such a trip consists of two for the first day, three for the second and another two for the third. The rationale for only allowing two meals on the first and last day is that the employee would be expected to consume one meal at home given the time of the departure and return and would thus only have incurred two meal expenses while travelling on those days. This is further confirmed in the example contained in paragraph 10 of the IC where again only two meals are permitted for each day of a trip covering two days. These examples are in accordance with comments in paragraph 14 of the IC, "A claim for meals will be allowed to the extent the number of meals in a day is reasonable, which will depend on the number of hours the employee was away from home in the course of the employment duties."
We trust this information is helpful.
Yours truly,
Charles Rafuse
For Director
Business and Partnerships Division
Income Tax Rulings Directorate
Policy and Planning Branch
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