Avoiding ‘Charity’ Scams

With generous tax benefits and 86,000 charities, it’s not surprising that some people try to abuse the system. Blumberg’s SmartGiving.ca helps Canadians understand how to avoid being duped by a charity scam. We also help foundations, philanthropists and corporations with grantmaking and due diligence on charities.

“Silence Isn’t Golden”

Mark Rosenman has written an article “Silence Isn’t Golden” for Philantopic of the US Foundation Center.  It is well worth reading.  “Confronted by headlines about truly questionable practices at a few dozen charities, the response of too many nonprofit leaders…

Lawyers preventing money laundering and terrorism

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has put out an interesting report on “Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing:  Vulnerabilities of Legal Professionals”. The report provides interesting case studies, red flags, examples and suggestions for avoiding involvement with money laundering and…

CRA letter on Leveraged Donation Arrangements

CRA recently released a letter which gives CRA’s views on providing advance tax rulings in respect of leveraged donation arrangements. Following the recent Maréchaux decision and the CRA audits of leveraged donation arrangements, there have been concerns raised regarding the…

CRA revokes Trinity Global Support Foundation as a charity

The Canada Revenue Agency has revoked the charitable registration of the Canadian registered charity Trinity Global Support Foundation.  The London Free Press has written extensively on this charity and we have covered here: “FCA case on Trinity Global Support Foundation…

FCA case on Trinity Global Support Foundation – CRA wins again

In this case Trinity Global Support Foundation (the “Foundation”) asked the court to delay CRA publishing a notice of intention to revoke the registered charity status until the Foundation’s other legal claims have been dealt with.  The FCA ruled against…

2013 Canadian Federal Budget and its impact on charities

On March 21, 2013 at 4pm, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty delivered the 2013 Canadian federal budget. There were a number of interesting proposals relating to charities.  Some of the highlights include a new temporary First-Time Donor’s Super Credit (FDSC) designed…

The Cup Trust charity scheme coverage widens

It is interesting to note the amount of attention The Cup Trust scheme is receiving in the UK.  Members of Parliament are all over it.  The media is covering it.  There are all sorts of recriminations about who is responsible…