Principal Issues: Does a pass to travel to and from work in an 8-passenger commuter van qualify for the transit credit?
Position: No
Reasons: Transportation services offered in an 8-passenger commuter van would not be considered to be "by means of bus, ferry, subway, train or tram" and would therefore not qualify for the credit.
April 12, 2007
XXXXXXXXXX
Dear XXXXXXXXXX:
Thank you for your email received on February 7, 2007, concerning the public transit pass tax credit. I apologize for the delay in responding.
In your email you ask whether an individual who pays a monthly fee to travel to and from work in an eight-passenger commuter van would qualify for the public transit pass tax credit. One of the requirements that must be met to qualify for the credit is that the transportation services meet the definition of "public commuter transit services." Subsection 118.02(1) of the Income Tax Act defines these services as "services offered to the general public, ordinarily for a period of at least five days per week, of transporting individuals, from a place in Canada to another place in Canada, by means of bus, ferry, subway, train or tram, and in respect of which it can reasonably be expected that those individuals would return daily to the place of their departure". Transportation services offered in an eight-passenger commuter van would not be considered to be "by means of bus, ferry, subway, train or tram" and would therefore not qualify for the credit. This information can be found on the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Web site at www.cra.gc.ca/whatsnew/items/transit-e.html#monthly in Question 1.
I apologize for the difficulty you experienced in finding this information and want to assure you that the CRA is working on restructuring its Web site navigation as well as improving the search functions. We are continually striving to improve our Web site and hope that the upcoming changes will allow Canadians to find what they are looking for quickly and easily.
The CRA takes its duties and obligations to safeguard the confidentiality of taxpayer information very seriously. To ensure that confidentiality, we strongly encourage individuals to contact the CRA by regular mail. If an email message contains confidential information, the CRA cannot guarantee that it will be secure and will not reply by email. However, should you provide your full name and mailing address, we will respond by regular mail. You may also wish to provide your telephone number.
Thank you again for having taken the time to write.
Sincerely,
The Honourable Carol Skelton, P.C., M.P.
Randy Hewlett
613-957-2049
2007-022560