If you think Indigenous people don’t pay tax, think again – Financial Post

Jul 12, 2024

Jamie Golombek looks at a recent case that dealt with the exemption and how it is applied

There’s a common misconception that Indigenous people in Canada simply don’t pay tax, but that’s generally not true since in order to be exempt from tax, the income earned must be situated on a reserve.

A recent case, decided earlier this month, dealt with the exemption and how it is applied. The case involved an employee who is a Haudenosaunee Iroquois Confederacy Treaty Indian from the Six Nations of Grand River in Ontario who lives on the reserve and works as a clerk at a hospital just outside the reserve. She took the position that the income she earned from working at the hospital was exempt from tax.

The employee is a “Status Indian” within the meaning of the Indian Act. Under the act, the personal property of an Indigenous person situated on a reserve is exempt from tax. Prior jurisprudence has concluded that the employment income of such a person is personal property, and so if the taxpayer’s employment income from her work at the hospital was situated “on a reserve,” it would be exempt from tax.

Read More: https://financialpost.com/personal-finance/taxes/court-finds-indigenous-womans-income-taxable