The trustees of a REIT (who in that regard were not acting in the course of a business) received fees from the REIT equaling $20,000 per year, plus $1,000 for each meeting attended in person (or $500 if attended by telephone) plus reimbursements for out-of-pocket expenses incurred in the performance of their duties as trustees. CRA concluded that such fees were from an “office,” and thus were salary and wages and, in support, quoted from the statement in Merchant that:
I am not convinced that at the time of taking office the taxpayer must know how much he will receive. It seems to me a per diem rate, or a specified amount per sitting renders the income sufficiently ascertainable to meet the definition in section 248(1).