🤔 canada tax open-source

lread, clojure open-source asks on clojurians slack re: taxes and receiving sponsorships

https://clojurians.slack.com/archives/C0736RLDT/p1673995744622079

my response (caveat: not a tax professional)

Also re: GST, it only applies if you're contracting and once past a certain limit.AFAIK, gifts in canada are untaxed, and there is an argument to be made that sponsorships are donations/gifts.  A clojurists-together grant probably "income", but, random "buy me a beer" paypal dollars - probably a "gift"?You can also call the CRA and ask them directly. Might have to wait on-call for a while (better asap, before the really busy season starts).

[https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/technical-information/income-t[…]ttery-winnings-miscellaneous-receipts-income-losses-crime.html](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/technical-information/income-tax/income-tax-folios-index/series-3-property-investments-savings-plans/series-3-property-investments-savings-plans-folio-9-miscellaneous-payments-receipts/income-tax-folio-s3-f9-c1-lottery-winnings-miscellaneous-receipts-income-losses-crime.html#toc3)
is relevant. IMO (not a tax professional), if there's no consideration given to "donors" and your open-source contributions are for their own sake, and not to make a living, then you should be able to treat Github sponsorships and ClojuristsTogether long-term funding as gifts. If you had a Patreon, it would likely be treated as income, b/c of the perks given to subscribers, and the efforts made by you to maintain the Patreon. Also, a ClojuristsTogether grant, because it involves making a proposal, is likely "income", because there is consideration and exchange. (Also, if you were making specific efforts to get more sponsorships – tweeting about it – and relying 100% on sponsorships for your income, the CRA would likely consider it as you carrying on a business).It might be hit-or-miss, but for me, calls to the CRA have been the best CSR experiences I've ever had. Re: "not their job to interpret tax law", in 2007, a "Taxpayer Bill of Rights" was introduced, which includes "You can expect us to provide you with complete, accurate, and timely information in plain language explaining the laws and policies that apply to your situation." So, just hit your CSR up with that if they're being unhelpful.