Andrew Schopp
Biz/Tech Reporter

Businesses that receive a tax deduction for hockey tickets used to entertain clients should receive the same benefit for golf, said people in the golf industry and some MPs.

“To me it’s just a matter of fairness,” said professional golf management co-ordinator Ray Chateau.

“If you can write off tickets to Leafs box seats at the Air Canada Centre, I don’t see why you shouldn’t be able to write off a corporate golf event in which you are bringing your customers or your clients and using it as part of your sales and marketing strategy.”

Nova Scotian New Democrat MP Peter Stoffer is a member of the All Party Golf Caucus, a group of 22 MPs who are lobbying for the federal government to allow tax write-offs for green fees, a privilege which the government scrapped in 1971.

“In 1971, golf was excluded along with yachting and hunting lodges. It was considered an elitist sport,” said Stoffer.

“Right now if you’re a business and you wish to entertain your clients, you can take them to an Ottawa Senators hockey game or you can take them to the orchestra. You can claim 50 per cent as a business deduction for entertainment purposes. If they want to take them golfing, they should be able to claim that just like the others. All it does is allows businesses another option to entertain their clients,” he said.

Compared to gold seats at a Maple Leafs game, which cost more than $200, golf can provide a more cost-effective means for businesses to entertain clients.

“The average round of golf costs roughly $40 a game for four or five hours entertainment. That’s pretty low-cost entertainment, don’t you think?” Stoffer said.

Some Canadians, however, are wary of the proposed initiative and argue that businesses should cover their own entertainment costs.

“If the business is correlated with golf, then yes,” said Josie Minasalvas, 19, a human resources student at Humber. “But if it’s just a way of showing appreciation towards your clients then it should come out of the business’ pocket.”

“Some people don’t like it because they think it’s another tax break for the rich which isn’t true at all,” said Stoffer. “As a New Democrat, the last thing I would do is give a tax break to the rich. All I’m asking for is equality in this regard.”