Bruce Power

Bruce Power Bussing Issue

Some of the group appeal members have received letters from CRA dated March 27th, 2009. The letters pertain to a request for taxpayer relief by BDO in September of 2007 in respect of interest charged by CRA to those few who had decided to not pay the originally assessed amount but instead waited to pay until the issue was resolved. For these people a refund (and refund interest) was not received like it was for those who had decided to pay the assessed amount originally.

In fact, for those who had decided to not pay the originally assessed amount there may have been a small amount of interest included when eventually reassessed to reflect the positive outcome of the BDO group appeal. The request for relief in respect of this small amount of interest was denied by CRA and communicated to you in said letter of March 27th, 2009.

The Bruce Power bussing issue with CRA is now history.

October 1^st, 2007

Gary Munro of the BDO Walkerton Tax Advisory Group has received confirmation from Canada Revenue Agency that the BDO group appeal process concerning taxable benefits for Bruce Power employees in respect of bus transportation has resulted in a significant benefit for those employees who joined the group appeal process.

Originally, CRA increased the taxable income for Bruce Power bus passengers by $6.46 for each one way bus trip that the particular employee purchased in 2003, 2004 and 2005.

BDO is pleased to announce that the previously proposed taxable benefit of $6.46 per one way bus trip has been agreed to be reduced by CRA to the following amounts for those Bruce Power employees that participated in the group appeal.

CRA is already in the process of reassessing those Bruce Power employees that took part in the BDO group appeal process to reflect the above reduced taxable benefits for 2003, 2004 and 2005.

For those employees that have paid the reassessed amounts and that took part in the BDO group appeal, tax refunds plus interest thereon will be forthcoming.

For those employees that did not pay the reassessed amounts but that did take part in the BDO group appeal, there will be a reduction of 82% to 84% in the amount of income tax that is to be paid in respect of bus transportation for 2003, 2004 and/or 2005.

There is more good news:

• CRA has confirmed that Bruce Power may revise the 2006 T4 slips for all employees who purchased bus tickets in 2006. BDO understands that Bruce Power has unilaterally already initiated this process. As a result, affected employees will be receiving income tax refunds or reductions for the 2006 taxation year.
• The reduced taxable benefit formula will remain in effect on a go-forward basis. This again will benefit all Bruce Power employees who take the bus for 2007 and subsequent years.

The BDO Walkerton Tax Advisory Group wishes to thank Bruce Power management for their invaluable support during the appeal process. They played a major part in achieving this very successful result.

Our thanks also go out to the Appeals group and in particular the project leader at Canada Revenue Agency for the professional and cooperative manner in which they proceeded with the appeal process.

Questions regarding the appeal process may be directed to Mr. Munro at the telephone number noted below. Any questions concerning amended T4's should be directed to Bruce Power.

Contact Us

BDO Walkerton Tax Advisory Group Box 760
Walkerton, Ontario, Canada
N0G 2V0
Tell 519-881-1211