Words and Phrases - "meeting"
16 August 2022 CPAC Roundtable Q. 10, 2022-0946251C6 - Home Office Expenses
Regarding the impact of meeting clients in a home virtually, CRA stated:
It is the long-standing position of the … CRA … that the term “meeting”, as used in both subparagraph 8(13)(a)(ii) and 18(12)(a)(ii) of the Act includes only face to face encounters.
At the present time, the CRA is not considering an administrative position that would include virtual encounters for purposes of the test in subparagraph 8(13)(a)(ii) or 18(12)(a)(ii) of the Act.
However, depending on the facts, the work space expenses might satisfy s. 8(13)(a)(ii) or 18(12)(a)(ii).
| Locations of other summaries | Wordcount | |
|---|---|---|
| Tax Topics - Income Tax Act - Section 18 - Subsection 18(12) - Paragraph 18(12)(a) - Subparagraph 18(12)(a)(ii) | “meetings” in ss. 8(13)(a)(ii) and 18(12)(a)(ii) refers only to “face to face encounters” | 183 |
Landry v. The Queen, 2007 TCC 383 (Informal Procedure)
In finding that the home office expenses of a school superintendant were deductible, Webb J stated (at para. 30):
The Appellant also testified, and I accept his testimony, that at least once a week he met persons at the office in his home and he testified that the area in which the office was located in his house was used exclusively for employment purposes. This office was not used for any other purpose. Both the Appellant and Mr. Legere testified that the Appellant made several calls from his home in the evenings and on weekends. In the cases of Vanka v. Her Majesty the Queen [2001] 4 C.T.C. 2832 and Ryan v. Her Majesty the Queen [2006] 3 C.T.C. 2153, this Court has found that meetings by telephone are sufficient for the purposes of subparagraph 18(12)(a)(ii) which is indistinguishable from subparagraph 8(13)(a)(ii) in relation to the requirement that the work space be used on a regular and continuous basis for meetings and therefore I find that the requirements of subparagraph 8(13)(a)(ii) have been met by the Appellant.
S4-F2-C2 - Business Use of Home Expenses
Meaning of principal place of business
2.11 ... The word principal is not defined in the Act but in this context is generally understood to refer to the individual’s chief or main place of business .
Example 1
Mr. A is a building contractor who uses a work space in his home to perform various administrative activities that are required in his business operations. These activities include receiving work orders, bookkeeping, ordering supplies and preparing payrolls. The remaining activities of the business, the performance of contracts, are carried out at various customer locations. The work space in Mr. A’s home therefore represents his main place of business. Mr. A’s children often use the work space in the evening to do their homework.
A work space need not be used exclusively for the business in order to meet the principal place of business requirement outlined in ¶2.4(a). This means that the room used by Mr. A in his home to perform the administrative functions of his business will be considered Mr. A’s principal place of business. ...
Qualifying work space: regular and continuous
2.13 A work space will be used exclusively to earn business income if it is a segregated area, such as a room or rooms, that is used in a business and for no other purpose.
2.14 The Act does not specify what is meant by the wording meeting clients, customers or patients, so the CRA looks to the ordinary or dictionary meaning of these words. The term meet is generally defined as to come face to face with or to come into the presence or company of (someone) by chance or arrangement. The term meeting is generally defined as an assembly or gathering of people by chance or arrangement. It is the CRA’s view that this traditional interpretation of the term meeting, being those held in person, applies for purposes of subsection 18(12).
2.15 Whether a work space is used to meet clients, customers or patients with sufficient regularity and frequency to meet the requirement in ¶2.4(b) depends on the nature of the business activity and the facts of each situation . However, a work space in respect of a business which normally requires infrequent meetings or frequent meetings at irregular intervals will not meet this requirement.
2.16 A work space in the home that is used by a doctor to meet one or two patients a week is an example of a work space that would not be considered to be used on a regular and continuous basis for meeting patients. On the other hand, a work space used to meet an average of 5 patients a day for 5 days each week would clearly be used for that purpose on a regular and continuous basis. ...
10 December 2013 External T.I. 2013-0481171E5 - Home Office Expenses
After noting that "to meet" means for "(two or more people) [to] come into each other's company" and "that some informal Tax Court of Canada decisions have held that the phrase "meeting customers" may include meetings held by telephone," CRA stated:
[T]he phrase "meeting customers or other persons"… includes only face to face encounters.
Ryan v. The Queen, 2006 DTC 2738, 2006 TCC 132 (Informal Procedure)
The taxpayer, a physiotherapist, worked full time at one physiotherapy clinic, and performed primarily management and administrative functions with respect to a second physiotherapy clinic.
His home office was his principal place of business with respect to the second clinic. Respecting the first clinic, his home office was used exclusively for the purpose of earning income from that business. Furthermore, it had been accepted that a professional could meet with patients by means of making himself available to answer their queries by telephone, and the taxpayer made three to five telephone calls per evening to patients with respect to follow-up matters and also made calls on Saturdays. Accordingly, he satisfied the "regular and continuous" requirement of s. 18(12)(a)(ii).