In the context of a teleconference on COVID-19, CRA confirmed that payments made by an employer to its employees, to enable them to equip themselves to telework, would be taxable to the employees, unless the payment was conditional on an invoice being submitted by the employee, as to which CRA stated:
In principle, an employee receives a taxable benefit when the employee’s employer reimburses a personal expense to acquire telework equipment.
However, the current particular context of declaring a health emergency in Canada due to COVID-19 has precipitated many employees who do not have the necessary computer equipment to telework.
In this particular context, the Canada Revenue Agency is prepared to accept that the reimbursement, upon presentation of supporting documentation, of an amount not exceeding $500, of all or part of the cost of acquiring personal computer equipment to enable the employee to immediately and properly perform the employee’s work, is primarily for the benefit of the employer, so that it does not result in a taxable benefit to the employee.