Meals and lodging for long-haul truck drivers (TL2/TP-66-V)

As an employee of a transport business (such as a truck driver or railway employee), you can claim the cost of meal, lodging, and/or shower expenses you paid for while working away from home. This cost includes any GST and provincial sales tax, or HST you paid.

Note: You can’t deduct the cost of travel to and from your work or expenses such as, most tools and clothing. You also can’t claim any expenses that were have been reimbursed by your employer.

To claim your meals and lodging expenses, you’ll need to complete the:

  • Federal TL2: Claim for Meals and Lodging Expenses form

  • TP-66-V: Employment Expenses of Transport Employees form (if you’re a Québec resident)

Both these forms are combined in H&R Block’s tax software.

Be sure to keep a detailed list of your trips and keep all your receipts in case the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and/or Revenu Québec asks to see them.

You must meet all of the following conditions in order to be eligible for this credit:

  • You work for an airline, railway, bus, or trucking company, or for any other employer whose main business is transporting goods, passengers, or both
  • You travel in vehicles your employer uses to transport goods or passengers
  • You regularly have to travel away from the municipality and the metropolitan area (if there is one) where your employer is primarily located
  • You regularly incur meal and lodging expenses while traveling away from the municipality and the metropolitan area (if there is one) where your employer is primarily located. This means that you must generally be away from home overnight in order to do your job.

Usually, the most you can deduct for a meal is 50% of its cost. You can only claim the cost of one meal every 4 hours up to a maximum of 3 meals in a 24-hour period. To calculate the deduction for your meals, you can use the simplified, detailed, or the batching method.

Tax tip: Before you decide which method to use, compare how much you’ll be able to claim using each method. You might be able to claim more with one method over the others.

If you’re a long-haul truck driver, you can take advantage of a much higher meal deduction rate of 80%. This is because long-haul drivers regularly travel outside of their municipality (at least 160 km) to transport goods or passengers for long periods of time (at least 24 hours).

If you made trips to the United States (US), be sure to convert your meal expenses to Canadian dollars by multiplying the amounts by the Bank of Canada annual average exchange rate.

Note: As a transportation employee, you might also be able to claim a rebate for the GST/HST, or QST you paid on your expenses, as long as you deducted these expenses from your employment income.

As a transportation employee, you can deduct your lodging expenses and the cost of showers (if you slept in the cab of your truck rather than at a hotel). Be sure to keep your receipts to support the amount you’re deducting.

If you’re a Québec resident, you can claim the cost of one shower in a 24-hour period. If you have receipts, you can include the cost within your lodging expenses. Otherwise, you can only claim $5 per shower for trips within Canada (or $5 U.S. for trips to United States).

Note: As a transportation employee, you might also be able to claim a rebate for the GST/HST, or QST you paid on your expenses, as long as you deducted these expenses from your employment income.

Yes. If you’re going to be claiming the cost of meals and lodging that you had to pay as a long-haul truck driver on your 2023 tax return, you’ll need to get your employer to fill out part 3 of form TL2. You can download and print a copy of the TL2 on the CRA's website.

If you’re a Québec resident, your employer must also complete and sign part 2 on a paper TP-66-V.

Some of the information your employer will be asked to provide includes:

  • The name of the collective agreement that governs your employment with the company
  • The cost of subsidized meals that were made available to you
  • The amount of allowance or repayment that you received for meals and lodging in 2023 (if applicable)

Once your employer has completed their portion of the TL2 (and TP-66-V, if applicable) form, you can use this information to complete the relevant pages in H&R Block’s tax software. Make sure you keep a copy of the document your employer filled out for you with your records.

Follow these steps in H&R Block’s 2023 tax software:

  1. On the left navigation menu, under the Credits & deductions tab, click Tax Topics.

  2. Select the Employment expenses & other income checkbox.

  3. At the bottom of the page, click Add selected topics to my return.

  1. Under the EXPENSES heading, select the checkbox labelled Claim for meals and lodging expenses (TL2), then click Continue. If you’re a resident of Québec, click Employment expenses of transport employees (TL2 & TP-66-V), then click Continue.

  2. When you arrive at the page for your Meals/lodging expenses, enter your information into the tax software.