A Toronto-area analyst has won a major fight with the Canada Revenue Agency after a judge ruled tax collectors bungled a Google Maps calculation by ignoring the difference between rush hour and late evening traffic.Patrick de Kruyff, who works on Bay Street, claimed nearly $130,000 in moving expenses when he relocated from Newmarket to Mississauga to shorten his commute downtown. Under the Income Tax Act, moving expenses are deductible if the change of address cuts at least 40 kilometres from the trip to work.De Kruyff measured his move at 47.4 kilometres using a Google Maps route at 4:45 pm Eastern during rush hour. CRA officials, however, pegged the distance at only 32.8 kilometres based on a 4:45 pm Pacific time calculation — three hours later — when Toronto traffic had thinned out..“Judicial notice and the empirical common sense of any motorist in the City of Toronto divines that traffic conditions on the Don Valley Parkway are dramatically different between 4:45 pm and 7:45 pm on an average weekday,” wrote Justice Randall Bocock in the decision. He faulted CRA for what he called a “time zone faux pas.”The court ruled in favour of de Kruyff, upheld his six-figure deduction and ordered the CRA to pay $1,000 in costs.“Like many others in the 9 to 5 life, he chooses from a limited menu: where he resides, where he works and which route he drives to get to both each business day,” the judge wrote, adding that de Kruyff had no option but to battle Toronto rush hour as part of his job in investment management.
