Lunch Bag Let-down campaign off to roaring start

TORONTO — As of late last month, an estimated 4,000 Lunch-bag Let-down Campaign postcards were received by Canada’s Minister of Finance, Jim Flaherty.

Considering the postcard had only been on the street for a couple of weeks by that time, that kind response shows the campaign has some legs.

In January, the Canadian Trucking Alliance, the Owner-Operator’s Business Association of Canada, teamed up with the Teamsters in calling upon Ottawa to restore 80 percent meal deduction for drivers on the job.

Go to cantruck.ca or obac.ca for more info

The groups want Revenue Canada to put Canuck drivers back on the same footing as their American counterparts in terms of the allowable proportion of meal costs they can expense on their personal or small business tax forms.

Canadian truckers were once allowed to deduct 80 percent of their meal costs. However, in an attempt to prevent businesses from getting a tax break on lavish meals consumed while entertaining clients, the Federal Liberals rolled the deduction limit back to 50 percent — a mark that hasn’t budged in over a decade.

There are nearly 200,000 campaign cards in circulation — between our trade magazines, and other sources — so there’s still a ways to go. Get hold of one and mail it off as soon as you can so the silly cap on the deductibility of truckers’ meal expenses has a shot of finally being lifted this year.

When contacted for a comment on the campaign, an official with the Dept. of Finance would offer only a bit of background on the issue, which we’ve all heard before: “The deductibility of meals and entertainment expenses for income tax purposes is generally limited to 50 percent for all businesses,” she noted. “This limitation is intended to reflect the personal consumption element inherent in these expenditures, while recognizing that a portion of these expenses are incurred to earn income and should therefore be deductible.”

Business expenses? Clearly, the bureaucrats still don’t get it.