Information on Volunteer Firefighters' Tax Claim Amount
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This information is as per Revenue Canada's Website. Please check this link for any additional and/or updates to this information:
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/ncm-tx/rtrn/cmpltng/ddctns/lns360-390/362-eng.html
Last update: April 2013
You can claim an amount of $3,000 if you meet the following conditions:
you were a volunteer firefighter during the year; and
you completed at least 200 hours of eligible volunteer firefighting services with one or more fire departments in the year.
However, if you provided services to the same fire department, other than as a volunteer, for the same or similar duties, you cannot include any hours related to that department in determining if you have met the 200-hour threshold.
Note
As a volunteer firefighter, you may be eligible for an income exemption of up to $1,000 if you received a payment from a government, municipality, or other public authority for carrying out volunteer firefighter duties. If you choose to claim this income exemption, you will not be eligible for the volunteer firefighters' amount. The income exemption related to volunteer firefighter duties is shown in box 87 of your T4 slips.
Eligible services
Eligible volunteer firefighter services include primary and secondary services you provided to a fire department.
Primary services include:
- responding to and being on call for firefighting and related emergency calls as a firefighter;
- attending meetings held by the fire department; and
- participating in required training related to the prevention or suppression of fire.
Secondary services you provided as a volunteer firefighter to a fire department are also eligible, such as the maintenance of vehicles and equipment used by the fire department and the delivery of educational sessions undertaken by the fire department.
Calculating eligible hours
You must complete a minimum of 200 hours of eligible volunteer firefighter services with one or more fire departments in the year.
For the purpose of counting the number of eligible hours, the number of hours devoted to primary services must exceed the number of hours devoted to secondary services for a particular fire department.
Example
A volunteer firefighter completes 110 hours of primary services and 135 hours of secondary services for a fire department. Because the number of hours for secondary services must be fewer than the number of hours for primary services, only 109 hours of secondary services can be included (110 - 1 = 109). As a result, the total number of hours of eligible services is 110 hours of primary services plus 109 hours of secondary services for a total of 219 hours. This volunteer firefighter meets the 200-hour threshold.
Note
In general, you should rely on the fire department to determine the number of hours of eligible volunteer firefighter services you have completed in the year. The policies and procedures of a fire department would be applied in determining the number of hours you were on call for firefighting and related emergency calls as a firefighter.
Completing your tax return
If you claim the $3,000 volunteer firefighters' amount, add the amounts shown in boxes 87 and 14 of your T4 slips and enter the result on line 101. Enter $3,000 on line 362 of Schedule 1.
If you are claiming the exemption, report only the amount shown in box 14 of your T4 slips on line 101.
Supporting documents
Filing electronically or filing a paper return
Do not send any documents. Keep them in case we ask to see them at a later date.
We may request certification from a fire chief or delegated official within the fire department to verify your claim. If we do, the certification must be on letterhead from the chief or delegated official of the department and verify the number of hours and the tax year when you performed the eligible firefighting services. It must also include your full name and the chief's or delegated official's full name, title, work address, and telephone number.
Forms and publications
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