Quote:
Originally Posted by eheffa
Thank you for the comments everyone.
I think that in balance it makes sense to continue to pay the annual fee (as unjustified as it seems...)
But the thought that I could use it as a business expense is intriguing... After all, I should be prepared, just in case, to use my radio to provide medical advice ;-)
-evan
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I hope Canadian tax laws let you do that. Here in the US, after the recent Tax Cut for the Rich (2018 Tax Reform and Job Act),
current tax law no longer allows writing off unreimbursed employee expenses. So all the craftsmen who are not independent contractors but who have to buy their own tools, uniforms, etc. are no longer able to claim those expenses as tax deductions. So much for helping the working man.
The requirements for station and operator radio licenses is spelled out in international treaties. So while the US can exempt maritime stations and operators from licensing in its own waters (which it did to get recreational boaters off the Citizens Band - where they died waiting for
rescue while other CBers wondered why they were shouting about a communist holiday - and onto the
VHF marine band - where they often behave like they are still on the Citizens Band) -- the moment those vessels cross a border, they have to be licensed to comply with treaties.
It's never been clear to me what the law requires when an unlicensed US station is in international waters and that vessel communicates with another vessel with a foreign flag. The
regulations say you must have a license if communicating with "foreign stations." Since I've always had a license, I haven't delved into it. But I doubt the FCC is going to dispatch enforcers to repel from a helicopter at sea. The FCC seems to be too busy auctioning off public radio spectrum to bother with enforcing its own rules when there aren't big fines to extracted.