Canadian truckers have expressed concern over federal legislation that would mandate the collection of truck drivers’ biographical information at border crossings because it could result in the United States hitting them up for more taxes.
The legislation is intended to put into place the final steps of a cross-border agreement Canada signed in 2011 with the U.S.
“It might come as a surprise to a great many Canadians that this doesn’t happen already,” Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale told reporters on June 15. “Having this data will allow us to better respond to Amber Alerts, for example, on missing children,” Goodale said. “It will help us deal with human trafficking. It will help us deal better with illegal travel by terrorist fighters.”
The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) wrote to Goodale seeking assurances that U.S. authorities won’t try to use the data to make a case that Canadian drivers are spending sufficient time in the U.S.to be considered American residents for tax purposes.
“This could cause some truckers to exit the market, creating potential capacity shortages in the transborder trucking space,” David Bradley, president of CTA, wrote. “There already is a chronic shortage of truck drivers in Canada.”
The Internal Revenue Service’s rules impose a “substantial presence test” under which someone can be subject to U.S. tax on their income in both countries if it is found that they have spent more than 120 days in one year in the U.S., Bradley noted. In addition, someone spending more than 180 days in the U.S. in any 12-month period could face sanctions for being in this country illegally.
“If we count a few minutes to drop off a load and go back as a day in the United States, that could lead to some issues,” Bradley told the Canadian Press. “So it’s a matter of interpretation. And I think that we would like clarification.”
He added that the law could substantially raise administrative costs for truckers in terms of route planning to make sure Canadian drivers don’t surpass the time thresholds. “These things are all subject to appeal and to review and interpretation. But once you get into those processes, even if you’re right, it’s costly and time-consuming and really not productive.”
Bradley also says he is optimistic about obtaining a positive outcome from Canada’s federal government. “I think that, as a general rule, the government of Canada understands certainly much better than the U.S. federal government the economic imperative of trade facilitation versus security. But this is the world we live in, and we’re going to have to see how things play out.”
Driver Shortage Presses Point
The need to take steps to make life easier for truck drivers was brought home by a study of the truck driver shortage in Canada, released in June by CTA, which shows the situation is worse than was anticipated. The study forecasts a shortage of 34,000 drivers by 2024, reflecting an increase in demand of 25,000 and a decrease in supply of 9,000.
Nearly 169,000 drivers were employed in the for-hire sector of the industry in 2014. However, the average age of the drivers continues to increase more rapidly than the rest of the Canadian workforce, with the average truck driver age expected to eclipse 49 years old by 2024—up from 47.1 years in 2014 and 44.1 years in 2006.
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