The Canada Revenue Agency has ruled that holding the position of "director" (regardless of whether considered part-time or full-time) on (a Crown) corporation board is considered to be "holding an office" for taxation purposes. Therefore, in general, income or other benefits received by virtue of being a director are potentially taxable under the Income Tax Act, although certain exceptions apply.
However, in the case of directors' travel allowances, such payments are not considered taxable benefits as long as they meet certain criteria:
- they are a reasonable amount;
- the payments are received for traveling away from the metropolitan area where the corporation at which the director works/reports is located;
- and the amounts are received for travel completed in the performance of the directors' duties.
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