Parking in a Tax Zone

By Spencer Yarnell Head of Spreading the Herd Word

Fun CRA fact of the day. Parking at work can be a taxable benefit.

What?

Well turns out that like any other taxable benefit you receive from your employer you’ve gotta put a price tag on how much parking is worth and pony up. The logic here is that all things equal between two jobs the employer who can offer you free parking is offering more value since theoretically if you went with the employer without free parking you would pay fees for a parking spot. Therefore by offering free parking you are helping with personal expenses and thus parking is a taxable benefit. The employer must assign a value to the parking based on what they pay for it and/or prices of parking nearby.

Some exceptions to the rule include: those who wish to make mobility disability claims and those for whom having a car at work is essential to completing their duties. The first I think is pretty self-explanatory so I’ll elaborate on the second. If you need to use your car to complete your job, say you’re a salesperson who needs to go to potential customer’s in person, then the expense of parking becomes a necessarily corporate expense since being able to park is essential for completing the job and it is no longer a personal expense. Thus in this situation parking is not a taxable benefit.

Alas for most of us this is not the case and our lazy buts are gonna get taxed by the CRA. You pay the taxes as you would any taxable benefits, either in parcels or on your T4 at the end of the year. Or you get your helpful neighborhood payroll provider to take care of it, (Hint, hint, not so subtle nudge nudge)

It’s only a matter of time before they tax me for drinking the company coffee. Sigh.

Goatbuzzter out.

IBEX Payroll extends our profound respect and immeasurable gratitude to all the ancestors and keepers of the land on whose traditional territories our work takes place. We acknowledge that we are on Treaty 1 territory, the traditional gathering place of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene people and the traditional homeland of the Métis people. This land is sacred, historical, and significant.

Every time we acknowledge this truth, we have an invitation and an opportunity to reflect on the wrongs of the past, what we do in the present, and what we can do to continually honour the people whose lands and water we benefit from today.

This statement only acts as a first step in honouring the land we reside on and its peoples, and must be paired with education, understanding and informed action.