2018-0754221I7 disaster relief from charity

Principal Issues: Are amounts received from a charity as disaster relief included in income for an individual personally? Would disaster relief constitute social assistance? Are such amounts included in income when received by a business?

Position: Question of fact. Amounts received by individual for personal losses are generally not taxable. An amount received as disaster relief is usually not social assistance. Where disaster relief is received in the course of carrying on business, it is likely included in income under section 9 or paragraph 12(1)(x).

Reasons: Law

Author: Ryer, Andrea
Section: 9, 12(1)(x), 56(1)(r), 56(1)(u)

                                                                                                   May 8, 2018

XXXXXXXXXX                                                                           Income Tax Rulings Directorate
Tax Relief Policy & Programs Division                                       A. Ryer
Appeals Branch                                                                          613-970-9038
XXXXXXXXXX
                                                                                                   2018-075422

Disaster relief received from a charity

We are writing in response to your e-mail enquiry, dated March 27, 2018, regarding the income tax treatment of financial assistance received from a charity in respect of a natural disaster.

General information on disasters and disaster relief is available on the Government of Canada website at https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/campaigns/about-canada-revenue-agency-cra/disasters-disaster-relief.html. This page also includes information about the taxation of financial assistance payments for disaster relief from an employer to an employee, which is not addressed in this letter.

Specific information about the taxation of financial assistance payments for disaster relief from a government to an individual or to a business can be found at https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/campaigns/about-canada-revenue-agency-cra/disasters-disaster-relief/financial-assistance-payments-your-government.html.  Generally, the comments on that webpage about payments to an individual or to a business also apply to a disaster relief payment from a charity, such as the Canadian Red Cross.

Amount Received by an Individual (Personal)

Ultimately, whether an amount received by an individual needs to be included in income depends on the nature of the payment and the facts of the situation. However, a disaster relief payment received by an individual for personal losses and expenses is generally not taxable and is not included in income for income tax purposes.

Amount Received by a Business

Where assistance is received in the course of carrying on business, for example, to compensate a small business for uninsured financial losses, that amount will generally be included in the recipient’s income from business under section 9 of the Income Tax Act (the “Act”), regardless of whether the assistance is received from a government or from another source.

Where assistance is received from a government, municipality, or public authority in the course of earning income from a business or property, it will generally be included in income under paragraph 12(1)(x) of the Act, to the extent that the amount was not already included in income under section 9 of the Act. Paragraph 12(1)(x) applies where assistance is provided directly or indirectly by a government, municipality, or public authority, including, for example, where assistance is provided by a not-for-profit organization (including a charity), that receives its funding from a government. This is explained in paragraph 3 of IT-273R, Government Assistance – General Comments, which is also available on the Canada.ca website.

Where assistance payments related to a natural disaster are received in respect of the operation of a business, the assistance is included in the taxpayer’s income but is usually offset by the additional expenditures incurred. For example, expenditures that are compensated by relief payments will generally be deductible, such that the business will effectively have no net income related to the assistance. Where the assistance received is in respect of the purchase or replacement of capital property the amount of the assistance is not normally included in the taxpayer’s income because specific rules in the Act allow the taxpayer to reduce the capital cost of the property by the amount of the related assistance received.

Unless exempted, a copy of this memorandum will be severed using the Access to Information Act criteria and placed in the Canada Revenue Agency’s electronic library. After a 90-day waiting period, a severed copy will also be distributed to the commercial tax publishers for inclusion in their databases. You may request an extension of this 90-day period. The severing process removes all content that is not subject to disclosure.

We trust these comments will be of assistance.

Katie Robinson, CPA, CA
Manager
Business Income and Capital Transactions
Business and Employment Division
Income Tax Rulings Directorate

All rights reserved. Permission is granted to electronically copy and to print in hard copy for internal use only. No part of this information may be reproduced, modified, transmitted or redistributed in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system for any purpose other than noted above (including sales), without the prior written permission of Canada Revenue Agency, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0L5.

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, 2018

Tous droits réservés. Il est permis de copier sous forme électronique ou d'imprimer pour un usage interne seulement. Toutefois, il est interdit de reproduire, de modifier, de transmettre ou de redistribuer de l'information, sous quelque forme ou par quelque moyen que ce soit, de façon électronique, mécanique, photocopies ou autre, ou par stockage dans des systèmes d'extraction ou pour tout usage autre que ceux susmentionnés (incluant pour fin commerciale), sans l'autorisation écrite préalable de l'Agence du revenu du Canada, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0L5.

© Sa Majesté la Reine du Chef du Canada, 2018