Tax guide for truck drivers: meals, trucks and records

Employee driver or owner-operator

Employees are paid by a carrier or another employer and generally receive a T4. Owner-operators contract their services, invoice or receive settlements, and report business income on Form T2125. The label on a contract does not decide the matter. The CRA looks at the whole working relationship, including control, tools, risk of loss and chance of profit.

The distinction changes almost everything below. Employees claim meals and lodging on Form TL2 and, for many other expenses, need a Form T2200 completed by the employer. Owner-operators deduct business expenses on Form T2125 and also take on GST/HST, instalments and CPP on self-employment income. If your status is unclear, read our article on contractor misclassification risks and try the employee or contractor tool before you file.

The 80% long-haul meal rule

Food and beverages are normally deductible at 50%. For a long-haul truck driver, the CRA allows 80% of meal and beverage costs during an eligible travel period. The rule is narrow, so confirm that each part applies to you.

For self-employed drivers, an eligible travel period is at least 24 continuous hours away from the municipality and metropolitan area where you live, while driving a long-haul truck that transports goods to or from a location beyond a radius of at least 160 kilometres from your residence. For employees, the CRA’s guide measures the 160 kilometres from the employer’s establishment where you regularly report to work, and it applies to employees whose main duty is transporting goods by driving a long-haul truck.

A long-haul truck, in the employee guide, is a truck or tractor designed for hauling freight with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 11,788 kg. A short local run, or a trip that ends the same day, does not qualify. Our article on the 50% meals rule explains the ordinary limit and the other exceptions.

Employees: claiming meals and lodging on Form TL2

Transport employees complete Parts 1 and 2 of Form TL2, Claim for Meals and Lodging Expenses, and the employer completes Part 3. Eligible long-haul trips go in Part 2B and all other trips go in Part 2A. The claim is entered on line 22900 of your return. You do not send the form with your return, but you keep it in case the CRA asks.

You must reduce the claim by any non-taxable allowance or reimbursement your employer paid or owes you. The CRA’s guide also describes a simplified method, which in its 2025 guide uses $23 per meal with a maximum of three meals a day, one meal for every four hours from departure, and no meal receipts, though you still need a detailed trip log. Lodging counts, and the guide treats showers as part of lodging for drivers who sleep in the cab. Check the current-year guide for the rate before you rely on that figure.

For trips in the United States, the simplified rate is US $23 a meal, and you convert your U.S. meal and lodging totals using the Bank of Canada annual average exchange rate.

Owner-operators: meals on Form T2125

Self-employed drivers claim food and beverage costs on the meals line of Form T2125, where the allowable part is normally 50% and 80% for long-haul truck drivers on an eligible travel period. Record the amount you actually incurred, and keep it reasonable in the circumstances.

Note the difference from the employee method. The CRA’s guidance for self-employed drivers does not describe a flat per-meal rate for truckers. The flat rate it describes on the self-employed meals page is for foot and bicycle couriers and rickshaw drivers. Keep your own receipts, as described below.

Truck costs and capital cost allowance

Owner-operators generally deduct fuel, insurance, licences, repairs, interest on a truck loan and leasing costs, in proportion to business use. The CRA’s motor vehicle expense guidance requires the business share of kilometres, supported by records for each vehicle. A truck used only for hauling may be close to fully business use, but a second vehicle often is not.

The cost of buying the truck is not deducted in one lump. It is recovered through capital cost allowance. The CRA places freight trucks acquired after December 6, 1991 that are rated above 11,788 kg in Class 16, with a 40% rate. Other motor vehicles generally fall in Class 10 at 30%, and some passenger vehicles have separate rules and limits. Our article on vehicle expenses covers the logbook side, and the CCA term explains the mechanics.

Selling or trading a truck can trigger recapture or a terminal loss. Raise that before you dispose of the vehicle, not afterward.

GST/HST for owner-operators

The usual small-supplier rule applies. You generally must register once worldwide taxable revenues, including associates’, exceed $30,000 in a single calendar quarter or over four consecutive quarters. Once registered, you charge tax on taxable services, remit it, and claim input tax credits on eligible costs such as fuel and repairs. Reduce the expense you deduct by the credit you claim.

Meals carry a limit. The CRA’s eligibility chart shows 50% for most businesses and 80% for long-haul truck drivers. Cross-border and export work has its own GST/HST treatment that this guide does not cover; ask about it before you assume a supply is taxable or zero-rated.

Records that support the claim

For the 80% meal claim, you need to show that each trip was eligible. Keep a dated trip log with departure and return times, the route and the destination, plus dispatch slips, settlement statements and meal receipts. For the simplified employee method, the CRA specifically requires a detailed list of trips in a record or log book.

Business records are generally kept for six years from the end of the tax year they relate to. Our article on how long to keep business records covers the exceptions. Keep fuel, repair and insurance records by vehicle, and keep personal and business spending in separate accounts.

What to bring to an accountant

Bring your T4 or settlement statements, your Form TL2 and T2200 if you are an employee, trip logs, fuel and repair totals, loan or lease agreements, your GST/HST registration details and any records of equipment purchases or sales. If you expect a large balance, ask about instalments early.

Describe your situation through the general enquiry form rather than sending tax identifiers or full financial files. A conversation based on your own trips and numbers will be more useful than any general rule.