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Is this staff event still 100% deductible?
Six events a year open to all employees are 100% deductible; the seventh and later fall to 50%, and the credit follows the deduction.
Six a year are, if they are open to all employees. The seventh is half. Which one this is depends on the events before it, so the count matters more than the bill — enter both and the percentage appears, with the arithmetic behind it.
Enter the bill and the event’s place in the year, and the percentage appears here.
How it is worked out
Three rules, in this order.
Applied by the same engine that runs inside the app. This page is not a separate copy of them.
The condition, first
The event has to be put on for all employees at the place of business. Where it is not, the exemption does not apply at all and the figures on this page are the wrong ones — so the calculator answers with that instead of a number. CRA: social events and hospitality functions.
The count — six a year
Six qualifying events in the calendar year are fully deductible under ITA s.67.1(2)(f). The seventh and later fall to the ordinary 50% limit on food, beverages and entertainment. The count is chronological, so an event’s percentage is decided by everything recorded before it. CRA: food, beverages and entertainment expenses.
The credit follows the deduction
Whatever percentage the deduction takes, the input tax credit takes the same one — and only on the GST/HST. PST is excluded entirely, and the tip carries no tax to begin with, so both lift the deduction without lifting the credit. CRA: claim input tax credits.
What this does not account for
- The count itself. This page takes your word for how many events the year has already had. Getting that right for every event is a record across the year, not a calculation — the app keeps it; this page does not.
- The $150-per-person taxable benefit. Above that threshold an employer-paid social event becomes a taxable benefit to the employees who attended. The cost per head is printed above so you can see it coming; neither this page nor LedgerLodge computes the benefit or puts it on a T4.
- Whether the event qualifies at all. An event that is not open to all employees at the location is not a staff event for this rule. The calculator says so when you tell it, and stops — it does not work out the 50% figure or the benefit that would apply instead.
- Events at more than one location. The six-event count is per place of business. A corporation with two offices is outside what this page models, and outside what the app models.
- Whether you are registered for GST/HST. The credit assumes the corporation is a registrant. If it is not, there is no input tax credit.
- Quebec. QST follows its own regime with its own restrictions. Treat the credit here as GST/HST only.
Rules as they stand for the 2026 tax year, checked against the CRA sources linked above, each on or since 14 September 2026. The six-event administrative position and section 67.1 have both been changed before.
Questions
About staff events and the CRA.
How many staff events a year are 100% deductible?
Six. Paragraph 67.1(2)(f) of the Income Tax Act lifts the 50% limit for a party or similar event that an employer puts on for all employees at a particular place of business, and the CRA accepts up to six such events in a calendar year. The seventh and every later one fall back to 50%, of both the deduction and the input tax credit. On a $600 dinner that is the difference between claiming $600 and claiming $300.
Does the event have to be open to all employees?
Yes, and that is the condition people miss. The exemption is for an event open to all employees at the location — not to the management team, not to one department, and not to the owner and a guest. An event that is not open to all of them does not qualify: the ordinary 50% limit applies to it, and the employees who attended may have a taxable benefit instead. This calculator says so rather than answering 100%.
Which event is the seventh — does the order matter?
The count runs across the calendar year in date order, so an event's sequence depends on every event held before it. That means the answer for an event in November is decided by what was recorded in March, and adding a forgotten event later changes the percentage on everything after it. It is a running record rather than a calculation, which is why this page asks how many have already been held.
Is there a limit on the cost per person?
There is a threshold for the employee's side of it, not for the deduction. The CRA treats an employer-paid social event as a non-taxable privilege only up to $150 per person, plus incidental costs like transport home; above that the whole cost, not just the excess, is a taxable benefit to the employees who attended. This page prints the cost per head so you can see where you stand, and stops there — LedgerLodge does not compute automobile or social-event benefits for a T4.
How much GST or HST can I claim back on a staff event?
The same percentage as the deduction. For one of the first six events that is all of it: $24.00 of GST on a $600 bill is $24.00 of input tax credit. For the seventh it is half, so $12.00. PST is never an input tax credit at any percentage, so a British Columbia or Saskatchewan bill needs the two taxes kept apart on the receipt.
Is the tip part of the event's cost?
Yes. A tip for serving food and drink is part of what the event cost, so it is deductible at whatever percentage the event attracts. No tax is charged on a tip, so it lifts the deduction without lifting the credit — which is why it belongs in its own box here rather than folded into the subtotal.
What should I keep for a staff event?
The itemised receipt, the date, where it was held, who attended, and a note that the event was open to all employees. The attendee list is what makes the six-event exemption defensible, and the supplier's GST/HST registration number is needed to support the credit on any receipt of $100 or more. Keep it all for six years from the end of the tax year.
One party is arithmetic. Six is a count.
The percentage on any event depends on the ones before it, and the exemption only holds if the attendee list is there to support it. LedgerLodge numbers the events as they are recorded, drops the seventh to 50% on its own, and keeps the receipt and the attendees together on the record.