I mentioned it in other posts, but want to make the note more prominent so it can be passed up the chain. Fido community's 3 MVPs, under the Income Tax Act (section 3, if you're curious), are independent contractors. In fact, some factors support them being employees, but the facts of the MVP programme indicate that they are being compensated for a service that they provide to Fido and, therefore, have a business activity with a "reasonable expectation of profit".
The facts weakly support defences that the value of the benefits that the MVPs receive are windfalls, gifts or hobby income, which are exempt from income tax.
Where the value of remuneration (discounts + perks) in the year exceeds $500/year, Fido must issue T4A slips to the MVPs. Either way, MVPs must report the remuneration as taxable income (against which they can deduct reasonable business expenses)
Source:
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/payroll/completing-filing-inf...
I can provide other references, as well, to support my argument. Normally I'd charge a couple hundred for this analysis and advice, but I'm donating it for free. You're welcome.
