On July 23, 1998, Toronto messenger Wayne Scott made tax law history.
For the first time a court decision made it possible for bike and foot
messengers to deduct their extra food expenses as a business expense
equivalent to "fuel". The court agreed with Wayne's argument that the
extra food required by messengers to perform their jobs was similar to
the gas required by car couriers to perform their jobs.
The orginal court decision allowed couriers to deduct $11 per day as a
fuel expense for food. As of 2008 the current deduction permitted is
$17 per day. The automatic deduction is based on the number of days
worked and it is not necessary to submit supporting receipts unless the
courier attempts to deduct an amount greater than the daily limit.
Wayne's battle with Revenue Canada took 18 years to succeed. He lost in
Tax Court but appealed to the Federal Court of Canada where he was
finally successful.
The current limit amounts to a tax deduction for food of about $4,250
every year for every bike and foot messenger in Canada.
Once Wayne was victorious in his fight, the City of
Toronto
presented
him with a special award from the city on Messenger
Appreciation Day, October 9, 1998
Update
2008
- Couriers can now
deduct $17 dollars per day for food costs without receipts.
Update 2004
- Couriers can now
deduct $15 dollars per day for food costs without receipts.
Toronto
Councillor Jack Layton presents Wayne
Scott with
award from the City
Courier saluted
for pedal power - Toronto Star, October 9, 2003
Scott v Canada
- The Federal
Court of Appeal's Decision July 23, 1998
Wayne Scott
versus the taxman
- Hideouswhitenoise #42, Spring 1999
A
Courier's Unusual Tax Break - National Post, March 9, 1999
Food is Fuel For
Foot Courier, Court Rules
- Toronto Sun, July 25, 1998
Yes, there is a tax
free lunch -
Toronto
Star July 25, 1998
Alan Wayne Scott
Interview" -
Canada
AM, CTV, August 14, 1997
Bike Courier
Sideswiped by Car-biased Tax
Law - Now Magazine, August 7, 1997
Bikes
at
Work
Food as Fuel in the US too? - Efforts to bring Wayne Scott's
victory
to the US
Clause embodied in Report No. 4 of the Urban Environment
and
Development
Committee, which was before the Council of the City of Toronto at its
meeting
held on April 16, 1998.
11
Foot and Bicycle Couriers-Revenue Canada Taxation.
(City Council on April 16, 1998, did not adopt this
Clause)
The Urban Environment and Development Committee
recommends the
adoption
of the recommendation of the Metropolitan Cycling and Pedestrian
Committee,
embodied in the following Committee Transmittal February 24, 1998) from
the City Clerk:
Recommendation:
The Metropolitan Cycling and Pedestrian Committee on
February 23,
1998,
recommended to the Urban Environment and Development Committee, and
Council,
the endorsement of the concept outlined in Mr. A.W. Scott s
communication,
dated January 21, 1998, that foot and bicycle couriers should be
permitted
to apply for business expense deductions for tax purposes for the extra
nutrition over and above the norm required as a condition of their
employment
because this nutritional increment is the equivalent of fuel used by
transport
vehicles; and, further, that the Toronto Hoof and Cycle Courier
Coalition
be invited to make a deputation to the Urban Environment and
Development
Committee at the appropriate time.
The Metropolitan Cycling and Pedestrian Committee
reports, for the
information
of the Urban Environment and Development Committee and Council, having
requested the Toronto Hoof and Cycle Courier Coalition to submit more
detailed
information.
Background:
The Metropolitan Cycling and Pedestrian Committee had
before it a
communication
dated January 21, 1998, from Mr. A. W. Scott, Charter Member, Toronto
Hoof
and Cycle Courier Coalition, advising that a federal hearing will take
place in either late winter or the early spring respecting his request
that Revenue Canada allow foot and bicycle couriers to claim as
business
expenses, the cost of monies spent fuelling their deliveries; and
requesting
the Committee to provide him with a letter of support concerning this
matter.
Mr. A. W. Scott, Charter Member, Toronto Hoof and Cycle
Courier
Coalition,
appeared before the Metropolitan Cycling and Pedestrian Committee in
connection
with the foregoing matter.
(Communication dated January 21, 1998, addressed to the
Chair,
Metropolitan
Cycling and Pedestrian Committee, from Mr. Alan Wayne Scott, Charter
Member,
Toronto Hoof and Cycle Courier Coalition.)
While I realize you must be swamped with loftier
matters, it is our
hope that you can find the time to consider the plight of my co-workers
and myself. If, in so doing, you find any merit in our position, it is
further hoped that you could provide us with a letter outlining your
views
on the matter.
Our argument is a simple one: enviro-friendly couriers
should not be
taxed by Revenue Canada on monies spent fuelling their deliveries. That
we are currently required to pay this levy on funds that logic
recognizes
as allowable business expenses, only creates an uneven playing field in
our industry and rewards the comparatively irresponsible, motorized
members
of our fraternity. !
Here, despite years of lip service to the contrary, the
Canadian
Government
tacitly encourages the unnecessary pollution of our cities.
Foot and bicycle couriers keep this City moving and have
done so for
years. They are traditionally maligned, overworked and underpaid, often
by the very people who rely on them for so much. Arguably the
hardest-working,
least-privileged segment of our urban work force, is it any wonder so
many
of these responsible young Canadians prefer to remain isolated from
mainstream
society. Here, I feel we all lose.
I have asked for a federal hearing concerning this
matter and have
been
informed that it should take place in either late winter or the early
spring.
We look forward to hearing your views on the subject.
(Communication dated July 24, 1997, addressed to the Tax
Court of
Canada
from Metropolitan Councillor Jack Layton, Don River, which was attached
to the foregoing communication from Mr. Scott.)
Mr. Scott has been a courier for the past 15 years in
downtown
Toronto,
which includes my Ward of Don River. Couriers, like Mr. Scott, are an
important
part of our community. They perform a necessary service that would
otherwise
have to be carried out by cars which would highly increase downtown
congestion,
noise pollution and emissions levels. In order to properly perform his
job as a foot courier, Mr. Scott must consume quantities of food and
drink
over and above that of the average person, or even himself if he were
in
another line of work. Maintaining this diet is an absolute requirement
of his job and, thus, is a necessary and extra expense that he would
otherwise
not have.
I fully support his request to have this expense
considered as a
deductible
business expense for tax purposes.
(Communication dated July 22, 1997, from Metropolitan
Councillor Joe
Pantalone, Trinity-Niagara, which was attached to the foregoing
communication
from Mr. Scott.)
To Whom It May Concern:
As a Metropolitan Toronto Councillor for several years,
I am pleased
to provide the following statement recognizing the value of the work
undertaken
by bike and walking couriers:
"Bike couriers and walkers provide a vital service in an
environmentally-friendly
manner. They deliver packages throughout our city without contributing
to our serious smog problem. They reduce the number of vehicles on our
over-charged downtown streets while providing a competitive service. If
every industry produced so little harm to our environment and
contributed
so little to our traffic problems, our city would be an even better
place
in which to live and work."
(Communication dated July 16, 1997, addressed to the Tax
Court of
Canada
from City Councillor Mario Silva, Ward 3, which was attached to the
foregoing
communication from Mr. Scott.) I am writing in support of Mr. Scott's
appeal
application to review income tax laws in regard to the propriety of
setting
expenses needed ta generate income to be set against that income for
tax
purposes.
It is my opinion, shared with many of my political
colleagues, that
the service provided by cycle and pedestrian couriers is instrumental
in
moving the economy of the City of Toronto forward, without contributing
to increased air pollution, traffic gridlock and ensuring a better
quality
of life for its citizens.
To this end, all levels of government endorse and
encourage greater
recreational and business use of. bicycles to address these problems
through
policies such as dedicated bicycle lanes and other initiatives. In the
course of their business, couriers spend most of an average ten-hour
workday,
five days a week on the road, and must, therefore, incur additional
expenses
for food and beverages. These expenditures would also be greater than
that
for individuals who work in other industries or businesses due to the
nature
that this work entails.
It would only be fair and appropriate to permit couriers
some
allowance
for this expense against their income, as is already permitted in other
sectors. This would be in keeping with the efforts of all levels of
government
to further encourage the use of non-polluting ways of moving the
economy
of this city forward.
Your consideration of my letter is much appreciated. If
I may be of
any further assistance in this matter, please do not hesitate to
contact
me.
Distance Calculations Courier Career Statistics Alan
Wayne Scot
The following calculations represent the total distance
of
deliveries
accomplished on foot, bicycle and public transit by Mr. Scott in the
course
of his 15-year career.
Metropass/Runner- November 1990 to April 1997:
These totals were arrived at by measuring each delivery
on a map,
point
to point, with a kite string. The total length of the string was then
applied
to the map's scale to approximate the total distance that Mr. Scott
efforts
covered, had each delivery been laid out end to end. An average
delivery
length was calculated and multiplied by the total number of documented
deliveries available. An approximation of undocumented distances was
then
conservatively arrived at.
Length of average delivery - 3.65 miles
Total number of deliveries from December 1993 to April
1997 - 12,535
Total length of deliveries from December 1993 to April
1997 - 3.65 x
12,535 = 45,752.75 miles
Average total length of deliveries per month from
December 1993 to
April
1997 - 1,115
Approximation of total length of deliveries from
November 1990 to
November
1993 - 1,115 x 37 = 41,255 miles
November 1988 - November 1990 - recovering from bicycle
accident
January 1987 to October 1988 - dispatcher for United
Messengers
Limited
Biker - approximation of total length of deliveries from
September
1982
to December 1986 (biker capability estimated at 2/3 of
Metropass/runner)
- 743 x 52 =38,636 miles
Total: From Semptember 1982 to April 1997
or
More than five times the equatorial circumference of the
earth.
The following persons appeared before the Urban
Environment and
Development
Committee in connection with the foregoing matter:
Mr. Alan Wayne Scott, Toronto; and Councillor Jack
Layton, Don
River.
(A copy of the newspaper articles dated August 12, 1997, from the
Toronto
Sun and August 23, 1997, from the Toronto Star, which were appended to
the foregoing communication dated January 21, 1998, from Mr. Scott,
have
been forwarded to all members of Council with the agenda of the March
23
and 24, 1998, meeting of the Urban Environment and Development
Committee,
and a copy thereof is also on file in the office of the City Clerk.)
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