Principal Issues: 1. Do Guidelines 1, 2 or 3 of the Indian Act Exemption for Employment Income Guidelines apply to the employment income of an organization’s employees who do not live on reserve?
2. Does Guideline 4 of the Indian Act Exemption for Employment Income Guidelines apply to the employment income of an organization’s employees?
3. Is the fact that the organization provides services that benefit Indigenous individuals, including First Nations individuals, sufficient to situate the employment income on a reserve for the purposes of the Indian Act tax exemption.
Position: 1. Guideline 1 or 3 may apply to employees who live off-reserve but work on-reserve.
2. No.
3. Not likely.
Reasons: 1. Guidelines 1 or 3 may apply depending on the amount of time that the employee perform their required duties of employment on a reserve.
2. Guideline 4 would not apply as the services provided do not appear to be dedicated exclusively to First Nations individuals who for the most part live on reserves.
3. Based on the connecting factors identified and consistent with jurisprudence, the fact that the organization and its employees are providing child and family services that benefit Indigenous individuals, including First Nations individuals is not a factor that is given significant weight in a connecting factors test.
