14 May 2012 External T.I. 2012-0444191E5 - voluntary firefighter tax credit

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: Do services performed by a volunteer firefighter at a volunteer fire department at an industrial facility qualify as eligible firefighting services for purposes of the volunteer firefighter tax credit?

Position: No.

Reasons: A fire department at an industrial facility is not a fire department for the purposes of the volunteer firefighting tax credit.

XXXXXXXXXX
									2012-044419
									N. Shea-Farrow
May 14, 2012

Dear XXXXXXXXXX:

Re: Technical Interpretation Request – Volunteer Firefighter tax credit

We are writing in response to your e-mail of April 13, 2012 requesting our comments on whether services performed by a volunteer firefighter at a volunteer fire department at an industrial facility qualify as eligible firefighting services for purposes of the volunteer firefighter tax credit.

You work at a remote area in Ontario and while the industrial facility is serviced by local volunteer fire departments it is often a half an hour before the facility is responded to. This response time is the reason the industrial facility had its own volunteer fire department. You are trained in firefighting techniques by attending professional courses. You are on call at any time that you are at work which is about XXXXXXXXXX hours per year. Each shift has its own firefighting team including a fire captain. You are paid $XXXXXXXXXX an hour to be on the fire team. You are employed at the industrial facility as a XXXXXXXXXX.

Our Comments

Eligible volunteer firefighting services for purposes of the volunteer firefighter tax credit means services provided by an individual in the individual’s capacity as a volunteer firefighter to a fire department. These services consist primarily of responding to and being on call for firefighting and related emergency calls, attending meetings held by the fire department and participating in required training for the prevention or suppression of fires. These services do not include services provided to a particular fire department if the individual provides firefighting services to the department otherwise than as a volunteer.

The term “fire department” is not defined in the Income Tax Act. However according to the subsection 1(1) of the Ontario Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997 (FPPA) a "fire department" means a group of firefighters authorized to provide fire protection services by a municipality, group of municipalities or by an agreement made under section 3 of the FPPA. The Concise Canadian Oxford Dictionary states that, a fire department is a department of a local or municipal authority in charge of preventing, controlling and fighting fires. A volunteer fire department of an industrial facility would not in our opinion meet these definitions and the services that you performed for it would not qualify as eligible volunteer firefighting services for purposes of the volunteer firefighter tax credit.

We trust these comments will be of assistance.

Yours truly,

Sharmini Ratnasingham
Assistant Director
For Director
Financial Industries Division
Income Tax Rulings Directorate
Legislative Policy and Regulatory Affairs Branch