​Taxpayer with more expenses than income not allowed to carry them forward 

Jamie Golombek: While salaried employees can carry some expenses over year to year, commissioned employees face limitsPublished Jan 24, 2025  •  Last updated 1 hour ago  •  5 minute read Join the conversation Employees who receive part of their compensation in the form of commissions can deduct a broader range of “sales expenses” than salaried employees, however those sales expenses claimed by a commissioned employee are limited to the employee’s commission income that year. Photo by Julie AlexK/Getty Images filesReviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.If you incur various expenses for which you aren’t reimbursed by your employer, including expenses for a home office, you may be able to claim a deduction on your return for them. But what if your expenses are so large that they exceed your employment income? Are they still deductible against other income? Or can they be carried forward, and used in a future year?Advertisement 2Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. View more offersArticle contentArticle contentArticle contentThat was the issue in a recent tax case decided earlier this month involving a Montreal investment adviser. But before delving into the details of this case, let’s review the basic rules regarding the deductibility of employment expenses.To be entitled to deduct unreimbursed employment expenses, an employee needs to obtain a copy of a properly completed and signed Canada Revenue Agency Form T2200, Declaration of Conditions of Employment from their employer. A new and simplified version of this CRA form for the 2024 tax year was just released this week (more about that in a future column).Typical deductible employment expenses (if unreimbursed) for salaried employees can include: allowable motor vehicle expenses, out-of-town travel expenses, parking (other than at your employer’s place of business), office supplies, salary for an assistant (if required by your employer), office rent, and home office expenses.For salaried employees, if the allowable employment expenses are greater than the associated employment income, the net result is an employment loss, which can be applied against any other source of income for the year. And, if not used in the current year, it can be carried over to another year as a non-capital loss.Top StoriesGet the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againArticle contentAdvertisement 3Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Article contentEmployees who receive part of their compensation in the form of commissions, however, can deduct a broader range of “sales expenses.” These can include accounting fees