Have you been contacted by the CRA?
Between June and December 2022, CRA officials will lead an educational outreach project by contacting Canadian businesses that potentially hire personal service business, to help determine whether or not these companies are fulfilling their tax obligations. Learn more here.
If you have incorporated your business or are considering incorporating to provide services to one other company you might be considered by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to be operating a personal services business (PSB). This means your tax obligations will be different from other corporations. It is important that you are aware of the tax implications of incorporating and operating a personal services business.
Determining if your business is a personal services business
It is common for businesses to hire individuals to fulfill short or long term needs. There is a growing practice in some industries where an individual may choose, or be required by the hiring business, to incorporate in order to provide their services.
Generally speaking, a personal services business exists where the individual would be considered to be an employee of the payer if it were not for the existence of the corporation. This structure is sometimes referred to as an incorporated employee.
Your corporation may be operating a personal services business if the following conditions are met, as outlined in the Income Tax Act:
- you, as the incorporated employee performing services, is a specified shareholder of the corporation;
- if the corporation did not exist, you, as the incorporated employee, would be considered an employee of the entity receiving the services;
- your corporation does not employ more than 5 full-time employees throughout the tax year; and
- the amounts received by your corporation for services were not received from a related secondary corporation.
Example 1
Tam is looking for a job. An Ontario-based trucking company (ABC Trucking) offers him a 12-month contract position with full-time hours. The contract comes with the stipulation that Tam perform his services through a corporation.
Tam incorporates his business (858689 Ontario Inc.), for which he is the only shareholder and the only employee. 858689 Ontario Inc.’s only client is ABC Trucking.
858689 Ontario Inc. bills ABC Trucking for the services it performs, and it receives payment from ABC Trucking for those services. 858689 Ontario Inc. either keeps the funds in the corporation or disburses them to Tam.
In this example, 858689 Ontario Inc. meets the conditions outlined in the Income Tax Act to be considered a personal services business because:
- Tam is a specified shareholder of 858689 Ontario Inc.
- Tam performs the work of an ABC Trucking employee using their trucks, and were it not for the existence of 858689 Ontario Inc. Tam would be considered an employee of ABC Trucking.
- 858689 Ontario Inc.’s sole income is from services performed by Tam (incorporated employee) for ABC Trucking.
Example 2
Faye is looking to create her own coding and consulting business. She creates a business plan with a couple of friends, and incorporates as 123 Programming Inc. Faye and her two friends become shareholders of the business.
To perform work, Faye and her business partners use the corporation’s computer equipment. Throughout the first fiscal year, the corporation worked for five clients, billed the clients, and disbursed a portion of the payment to the shareholders, while also holding a small portion to pay off corporation expenses. The work they performed ranged from coding an appointment registration application for a hair salon, to consulting with a mall on how to update their networking infrastructure.
In this example, 123 Programming Inc. does not meet the conditions outlined in the Income Tax Act to be considered a personal services business, because:
- Faye and her business partners perform work for clients using 123 Programming Inc.’s equipment, but they do not perform work that an employee of their clients would normally perform.
- 123 Programming’s income is from services performed by more than one shareholder for more than one client.
Since 123 Programming Inc. is not considered a personal services business, they will follow rules and obligations set out in the Income Tax Act for other corporations.
Example 3
Mia is a nail technician and is looking for a job. A nail salon, 789 Salon, offers her a job but requires Mia to incorporate in order to offer her services at their salon. Mia incorporates as XYZ Nails Inc. and is the only shareholder and employee. She pays a chair rental fee to 789 Salon.
The hiring business, 789 Salon, supplies all the instruments and products required to perform her job as a nail technician.
In this example, XYZ Nails Inc. meets the conditions outlined in the Income Tax Act to be considered a personal services business because:
- Mia is a specified shareholder of XYZ Nails Inc. and its only employee.
- Mia performs the work of a 789 Salon employee using their instruments and products, and were it not for the existence of XYZ Nails Inc. Mia would be considered an employee of 789 Salon.
- XYZ Nails Inc.’s sole income is from services performed by Mia (incorporated employee) for 789 Salon.
Should the conditions of Mia’s business change to include:
- using her own equipment and products,
- making her own appointments,
- advertising XYZ Nails Inc. business,
- hiring other manicurists to sit in her chair at 789 Salon.
There would be an increased likelihood that she would not be considered a personal services business for income tax purposes.
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The preceding information is for educational purposes only. As it is impossible to include all situations, circumstances and exceptions, a further review should be done by a qualified professional. No individual or organization involved in either the preparation or distribution of this text accepts any contractual, tortious, or any other form of liability for its contents.
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