Do You Employ Or Work For Family Member?

When you employ or work for a family member in Canada, you may be paying for Employment Insurance (EI)that you don't qualify to collect. As a result you maybe eligible for EI Refund of $1,000s.

Who is Eligible and Why?

Here is actual law from the EI Act and the Income Tax Act as relates to this recovery. We have condensed it to layman's terms as follows: Insurable Employment dose not include... related people.

The government has identified people with close family ties as trying to take advantage of the employment insurance system. This law is in place to prevent fraudulent EI claims.

Who are "Related People"?

People (employees) related to the owner of the business by blood, marriage, or adoption are qualified to apply for an EI refund and exemption. This include all of the following relations:

  • Sons and Daughters including son/daughter in-laws, step-children, and grand-children
  • Wives and Husbands including Common-Law partners filing tax returns together
  • Mothers and Fathers including mother/father in-laws, step-parents, and grand-parents
  • Stepparents, Stepbrothers, Stepsisters, Stepsons and Stepdaughters
  • Brothers and Sisters including brother/sister in-laws, step-brothers and step-sisters

The Problem with the EI System

The rules are unfair. Business owners are instructed by the government to pay Employment Insurance premiums on related employees because they may be eligible. The government then uses the fact that there are family ties to deny benefits to these same people.


"...the fact that the power is partly discretionary makes it quite unfair in a self-assessing system. Persons must decide whether to pay premiums and risk that the Minister will refuse benefits." Justice Woods, Tax Court of Canada C&B Woodcraft Ltd.v.M.N.R.,2004


Business need to be aware that paying EI premiums on related employees dose not make them eligible for benefits when they apply for EI. Worse yet, some related employees pay into the EI system for their entire career without ever knowing whether or not they were ever eligible for benefits.

If your employment situation should be exempt from paying EI premiums, you qualify for refund. However, getting your money back is a difficult, complex and time-consuming task. Enduring this process without experienced professional assistance is like going to court without a lawyer.

To learn more visit http://www.goforrefund.com/

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