Canadian journalism labour tax credit

Overview of the Canadian journalism labour tax credit program:

The Canadian journalism labour tax credit is a refundable tax credit that is available to an organization that is a corporation, a trust, or a partnership. The credit is calculated by applying a rate of 25% to the total qualifying labour expenditure incurred for a period in the tax year beginning on or after January 1, 2019, in respect of each eligible newsroom employee of a qualifying journalism organization (QJO), less any amount received from the Aid to Publishers component of the Canada Periodical Fund in the year. Note that other types of assistance can also impact the calculation of the qualifying labour expenditure; additional information can be found below in the Qualifying labour expenditure section.

Benefits of the Canadian journalism labour tax credit program:

• The credit is calculated by applying a rate of 25% to the total qualifying labour expenditure incurred for a period in the tax year beginning on or after January 1, 2019.

Eligibility criteria of the Canadian journalism labour tax credit program:

• To qualify for the Canadian journalism labor tax credit, an organization must be a QJO. To be a QJO, the organization must first be designated as a qualified Canadian journalism organization (QCJO). It must then meet both of the following additional criteria:
• It does not hold a license, as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Broadcasting Act
• If it is a corporation with share capital, it meets specific ownership conditions of a Canadian newspaper as defined in the Income Tax Act
• An eligible newsroom employee of a QJO means an individual who:
• Is employed by the QJO in the tax year
• At any time in the tax year, has been, or is reasonably expected to be, employed by the QJO for a minimum period of 40 consecutive weeks that includes that time
• Works, on average, a minimum of 26 hours per week throughout the portion of the tax year in which the individual is employed by the QJO
• Spends at least 75% of their time engaged in the production of original written news content, including researching, collecting information, verifying facts, photographing, writing, editing, designing and otherwise preparing content
• Meets any other conditions that may be prescribed (currently there are no other prescribed conditions)