Are professional membership fees a taxable employment benefit?

Question: Is the payment of professional membership fees by an employer a taxable employment benefit?

Answer: An employer who pays professional membership fees on behalf of its employees does not confer a taxable benefit if the employer is the primary beneficiary of the payment.

Whether the employer is the primary beneficiary will depend on the specific facts and circumstances of each situation. But the employer will be accepted to be the primary beneficiary whenever the professional association is directly related to the employee’s job and membership in the association is a condition of employment.

Peter Israel is counsel to Goodman and Carr LLP in Toronto and is head of the firm’s Human Resource Management Group. Peter can be reached at (416) 595-2323.

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