Director’s Fees: An overview of corporate and personal tax compliance for Canadian companies and their directors

Corporate governance continues to be top of mind for organizations globally. Today we observe that companies face more and more scrutiny by governing tax authorities eager to impose penalties for various levels of corporate non-compliance. In an effort to mitigate scrutiny, we often see companies appoint external directors in order to achieve better oversight of its supervisory functions. As a result, companies may be required to pay directors fees to both resident and non-resident directors. With this comes a host of tax implications to both the employer and director. Understanding these tax implications are important as it will ensure your company and its directors are compliant with this particular area of taxation.

The webcast archive is no longer available. However, you may download the powerpoint presentation (provided above) that accompanied this webcast when it aired in June 2011. It provides an overview of the various taxation issues that arise with payment of director’s fees, including:

Corporate tax considerations including compensation reporting and withholding requirements for payments to resident and non-resident directors of Canada; and
Personal tax considerations for both resident and non-resident directors performing services in Canada.

Please contact any of the webcast speakers listed above if you have any questions about this topic.