The decision is quite concise and well worth reading for the ever decreasing number of people in Canada who still believe that you can take part in a tax shelter gifting arrangement and make money off a donation to a…
Here is an advisory recently posted on the site of the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board warning people to be cautious about any tax shelter involving the gift of cultural property in Canada. The Canadian Cultural Property Export Review…
The Canada Revenue Agency’s annual report to parliament is interesting reading. It has some references to the Charities Directorate, the Charities Partnership and Outreach Program, audits by the charities directorate etc. Here are some references to charities [emphasis is mine]:…
Paragraphs 11-14 of this judgement deal with dubious charitable tax receipts amounting to $15,000. The court criticized the receipts for not having certain mandatory information as set out in the Regulations to the Income Tax Act and also said that…
Another registered Canadian amateur athletic association (RCAAA) loses its status because of involvement with abusive charity gifting tax shelters. $25.9 million in donation receipts. This sports group should be ashamed of itself. News release The CRA revokes the registered status…
Charity receipting fraud in Canada is a big problem. According to CRA, between 100,000-135,000 donors have been involved between 2004 and 2009 with hundreds of millions in fraudulent donation receipts issued. There is no question that the courts will sentence…
Here is a copy of the Blumbergs Canadian Charity Law List newsletter for October 2010. Blumbergs Newsletter Blumbergs Canadian Charity Law List – October 2010 1) Upcoming Charity Law Seminars across Canada with Mark Blumberg or CLIP It is important…
I am going to be involved with a number of informal “Charity Chats” over the next few months. The first one is going to be on “Media Coverage of Charities and Fundraising Rules”. The description is “The media has recently…
Here is a Pre-Budget Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance entitled “Canadians demand more transparency in non-profit and charitable sector” by Blumberg Segal LLP. For more information on transparency and the Canadian charitable sector see www.globalphilanthropy.ca…
At the upcoming 2010 AFP Greater Toronto Congress I will be on a panel to discuss “The Great Debate: Charity Ratios and Ranking” The Great Debate: Charity Ratios and Ranking Thursday, December 2 9:00AM – 11:45AM Speakers Dan Pallotta,…
If you are a bit greedy and thinking of investing in charity gifting tax shelters here is a good article in the Winnipeg Free Press by David Christianson that is worth reading entitled “Make sure tax shelter doesn’t break CRA…
An article appeared in the Edmonton Journal October 4, 2010 entitled “Charity tax-avoidance scheme entices many: Those trying to save money with such shelters are ‘damn fools’: lawyer”. The article refers to “slick” promoters “Participants are lured by the…
Here are some of the upcoming charity law seminars I will be presenting across Canada through the Charity Law Information Program. The seminar will cover top legal issues, fundraising regulation and appropriate/inappropriate receipting practices. A full day session is only…
I will be speaking at the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough Philanthropy Forum 2010 on “Fundraising and Receipting Compliance Issues for Registered Charities” on Tuesday, November 16, 2010. Workshop 2 A: Fundraising and Receipting Compliance Issues for Registered Charities Description…
It is interesting that Paul Waldie’s article entitled “Gifting tax audits ensnare 170,000 Canadians” was this week’s most read story at reportonbusiness.com It is well worth reading. The comments afterward are the normal i.e. everything from interesting to outrageous. This…
On September 15, 2010 I appeared on the Lang & O’Leary Exchange to discuss charity gifting tax shelters and the ongoing CRA crackdown. Here is the link and the segment appears at about 46:08 to 52:01: http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/Money/Lang_&_O’Leary_Exchange/1319430780/ID=1592351530 http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/Money/Lang_&_O’Leary_Exchange/ID=1592351530 Kevin O’Leary…
I will be presenting at this conference on “Charity Gifting Tax Shelters: From Tax Avoidance to Tax Evasion and Fraud”.
Here is a CRA press release on a Toronto tax preparer who has pled guilty in a tax fraud scheme involving false donation receipts Canada Revenue Agency News Release Toronto tax preparer pleads guilty in tax fraud scheme Toronto, Ontario,…
The US National Association of State Charities Officials (NASCO) and the US National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) will be having a conference in October on the subject of “Charities and Regulators: Doing More With Less During Hard Economic Times”.…
Here is my “Blumbergs Canadian Charity Law List – September 2010”. You can add yourself to our newsletter at: 1) Upcoming Charity Law Seminars across Canada with Mark Blumberg or CLIP Here are some of the upcoming charity law…
Interesting press release from CRA on individual who pled guilty to tax evasion charges. One of the things he did was use a charity that he controlled to issue false receipts. News release Deception, misappropriation nets London man tax…
Here is a Summary of the Fourth International Conference of Charity Regulators which was held in Washington, D.C. on May 11 -13. Cathy Hawara and Terry de March from CRA attended. Here is a Summary of the Fourth International Conference…
It is good to see that in 2009 the problem of abusive charity gifting tax shelters has been further reduced. Here are the statistics from CRA: 2009: Number of “Donors”/Investors: 10,813 donors Amount of “donations”: $ 285,946,839 Number of schemes:…
Here is a request from the Humanitarian Coalition with respect to Pakistan http://thehumanitariancoalitionenglish.cmail4.com/t/y/e/miritl/biljdktji/ Here are some blogs and pictures from Pakistan http://www.thehumanitariancoalition.ca/index.php/site/newsRoomArticle/blogs_and_info_from_pakistan/ The Humanitarian Coalition is made up of Care Canada, Oxfam Quebec, Oxfam Canada and Save the Children. They…