Dear Editor,

I found your article entitled ‘6 Tax Tips for Truckers’ very informative and full of good advice for truck drivers who are owner/operators. However, I thought the piece neglected to address the tax considerations of truck drivers who are employees and the deductions available to them.

Canada Revenue Agency allows transport employees to either claim meal receipts for the year or simply calculate a flat rate amount. For example, this year truck drivers can claim $15 a meal up to a maximum of $45 per day.

The rules for claiming meals changed in 2003 and now a truck driver has to be away regularly overnight to claim meals.

This means a 10-hour day trip requires a stay away from home in order to claim a meal.

Technically, transport employees should also claim lodging expenses if they are claiming meals.

However, if the employee can demonstrate alternate lodging such as a sleeper cab, the CRA will accept the meal claim by itself.

This can represent a significant deduction for drivers working as employees but it is important to keep a log of trips to ensure the CRA honours the claim.

At H&R Block, we pride ourselves on being able to offer tax advice and preparation to all Canadians including employees, unincorporated small businesses and corporations.

Every client who walks into our office meets with a tax associate who has successfully completed at least 75 hours of specialized tax training in one of the best programs in Canada.

As the tax deadline approaches, it is important to make sure everyone understands how they can maximize their tax refund.

Renee Cillis

Vice-president, franchise operations

H&R Block Canada