5 March 1990 Ruling 74683 F - Accuracy of Taxable Benefits Manual on Meals and Strike Pay

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.

SUBJECT: Taxable Benefits Manual Meals and Strike Pay

This is in reply to your memorandum of January 30, 1990, wherein you requested our comments concerning the  technical accuracy of the above noted manual.

Our Comments - Strike Pay

1.     "References":  The reference to the Canada Pension Plan should be section 12 rather than section 11.

2.     "References":  The reference to section 3.1 of the Unemployment Insurance Act should be subsection 3(1).

3.     "Technical Comments", Paragraph 2: We advise that IT-334R is currently under revision and it is our understanding that the comments in paragraph 3 of that bulletin are being revised to reflect the Department's acceptance of the O'Brien decision (85 DTC 5202).  As a result, you may wish to delete this paragraph.

4.     "Technical Comments", Paragraph 3:  the last two words in this paragraph are redundant and should be deleted.

5.     "Reporting Requirements":  We would suggest the word "are" in the first sentence be placed before the word "strike". In addition, we would suggest the last sentence be deleted as unnecessary and in the second last sentence delete the word "and" before the letter "G" and add the words "and H respectively" after the letter "G".

6.      "Cases", 89 DTC 5240: Typographical error in the second sentence; the word "of" should be deleted.

7.      Paragraph 3, 77 DTC 17:  We suggest that this paragraph and the reference to this case under "General Comments" be deleted since as a result of the O'Brien case, the Department disposed of the appeal of this case by way of Consent to Judgement allowing the taxpayer's appeal in full.

Our Comments - Meals

1.     "General Comments," Paragraph 1: We suggest the sentence start with the word "under" or the phrase "pursuant to".  As well, the comma after the word "for" should be deleted and inserted between the words "of" and "or".  Second sentence, typographical error in the spelling of the word "circumstance".

2.     "References":  The reference to section II of the Canada Pension Plan should be section 12 and the reference to section 3.1 of the Unemployment Insurance Act should be subsection 3(1).

3.     "Definitions", Paragraph 1: Typographical error in the first sentence, the word "provide" should be "provided".  We are not in agreement with the third sentence; the term "accountable allowances" is a contradiction in terms since an allowance, by definition, is not accountable.

4.     "Definitions", Paragraph 3:  Typographical error in the first word, "a" should be "an".  In the last sentence your reference to "unaccountable allowances" seems to be redundant since "allowances" by their nature need not be accountable.

5.     "Overtime Meal Allowances":  As discussed in our recent telephone conversation (Wilson/Jones) we are not providing any comments concerning the technical accuracy of this issue as the view expressed appears to be an administrative practice.  We note, however, that it appears to be somewhat confusing with respect to your comments in paragraph 1 that, if certain criteria are met, the Department generally does not view an overtime meal allowance" paid to employees to be income while in paragraph 6 you state an allowance to pay for meals while working overtime would normally be considered taxable.  We also note the first sentence is incomplete as it states, "Generally the Department does not view an "overtime meal allowance" paid to employees as income under if following criteria are met:".  You may wish to add an explanation as to what it is under that the Department does not view this "overtime meal allowance" paid to employees to be income as well as add the word "the" between the words "if" and "following".

6.     Paragraph 6:  Typographical error, first word "a" should be "an".

7.     "Meals Not To Be Included In Income": Typographical error; you have numbered two consecutive paragraphs number 3.

We also advise that we have not provided an opinion on the comments provided under paragraphs 2 and 3 contained under the heading "Meals Not To Be Included In Income" as they too appear to reflect your administrative practice.  Nor have we verified the comments under the headings "Pensionability and Insurability" or the TOM references contained in the manual.

If you wish to discuss our comments please contact Duncan Jones at 957-2104.

B.W. Dath DirectorBusiness and General DivisionSpecialty Rulings Directorate Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs Branch