The Tax Court of Canada in Isah, A. v. The Queen (TCC) deals with donations disallowed by CRA and the court ultimately decided to impose gross negligence penalties on the taxpayer who submitted fake official donation receipts. The Court discuss the test…
The Department of Finance is reviewing Canada's anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regime. They have published a consultation paper at Reviewing Canada's Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Regime. They are looking for submissions on the discussion paper before April 30, 2018. I have…
Here is CRA's List of Areas of Non-Compliance with Income Tax Provisions – Canadian Public Foundations.
Here is the CRA's List of Areas of Non-Compliance with Income Tax Provisions – Canadian Private Foundations.
Here is the CRA's List of Areas of Non-Compliance with Income Tax Provisions – Canadian Charitable Organizations.
Over the last 10 or more years, we have published over 2500 blog posts. Except for a few avid readers, that might be a little overwhelming so we have started to create a directory of some of the top resources…
Here is an updated article on the difference between a conduit and a structured arrangement – it is entitled Canadian Charities and Foreign Activities: Conduit versus Structured Arrangement. .
Here is our note “Common Paragraphs for an Administrative Fairness Letter from the Charities Directorate of CRA“. It contains explanations of common concerns that CRA may find during an audit that, unless appropriately addressed, may result in various penalties, sanctions or…
In a presentation to E&Y Gary Huenemoeder of the Charities Directorate provided certain updated audit statistics for 2016-2017 which shows the outcomes of the CRA's completed audits. Audit statistics(2016-2017) •Audits completed –652 Results: •Clean audits –38 •Education letters issued –387…
In this article “Top 68 CRA Reasons for Denying your Canadian Registered Charity Application” we have obtained from CRA a list of some of the most common and not so common reasons for CRA to be concerned with a charity…
A great deal has been written about legal compliance surrounding charities in Canada. Much of that material, however, is highly specialized, hard to understand, and sometimes esoteric. As a result, it can be difficult for charities, employees, and volunteers to…
Here is a new checklist from Blumbergs that will assist Canadian registered charities either interested or currently conducting foreign activities. It is called Canadian Charity Foreign Activity Legal Checklist – Working with Foreign Charities or Intermediaries 2017. Some other resources that…
The US House and Senate are looking at major changes to the tax code that could have a significant impact on US donors and whether they receive any tax incentives for their donations. Now, 1 in 3 US donors may get…
Apparently a class action lawsuit has been launched relating to the GLGI scheme. In a press release the lawyers for the plaintiffs note “the commencement of a proposed $800 million class action lawsuit against Global Learning Group Inc. (GLGI), and other individuals and entities…
The CRA has recently announced the launch of a new program called the Charities Education Program. The program is going to have CRA auditors visit charities but not in the normal audit capacity. The CRA anticipates that about 500 of these visits…
The Charity Commission of England and Wales has released a guidance Grant funding an organisation that isn’t a charity. It sets certain standards when an English charity provides a grant to a group that is not a charity such as a…
CRA has provided information through ATIP on third-party civil penalties from 2009 to 2016. The number of completed third-party penalty audits where it was determined that the penalty would be applied is 67. The amount of the penalties was about $164 million. Here…
[UPDATED RECEIPTING KIT 2018] We have just released our updated Blumbergs' Receipting Kit 2017. The Blumbergs' Receipting Kit 2017 is for Canadian registered charities and other qualified donees who wish to issue official donation receipts under the Income Tax Act (Canada), which…
Mark Blumberg will be delivering two upcoming Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario (CPA Ontario) charity programs: Charity Fundraising and Receipting Rules – A Primer for Accountants and T3010 and Transparency in the Charitable Sector. Here are the text descriptions of the 2 upcoming…
CRA has just published a lengthy page on Personal information of directors, trustees and like officials that discusses how the Charities Directorate uses personal information provided in a charity application and in your registered charity's annual filings. Here are the top 10…
Although the CRA has little guidance on internal controls, they are increasingly focusing on internal controls, or the lack thereof, in charities. Internal controls are “a procedure or policy put in place by management to safeguard assets, promote accountability, increase efficiency,…
An interesting new report from The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) as well as the Australian Transactions Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) published on August 28, 2017 looked at “the risk of money laundering and terrorism financing in the not-for-profit sector, key vulnerabilities and…
Here is Blumbergs' comments on the Ontario Government Proposal to Allow Compensation of Directors of Charities Without Court Order that were submitted to the Ministry of the Attorney General today.
The Canadian Charity Law Association (CCLA) is pleased to present: Charities, Regulation and Donors – some international perspectives on June 22, 2017 at 8:30AM in Toronto. The 1/2 day program will cover 4 thought provoking topics (see bios below) and…