The CRA has announced that it will make automated calls to Canadian registered charities to remind them to file their T3010 Registered Charity Information Return. That is a positive step in using technology to remind charities of their filing obligations.…
The recent decision of Ploughman v. The Queen, 2017 TCC 64 deals with a “third-party civil penalty” against Mr. Ploughman for his involvement in what CRA refers to as “abusive charity gifting tax shelter” but this decision refers to as…
We have provided two letters recently released by the Canada Revenue Agency. The first letter from CRA discusses the income tax treatment of payments made by a church to a Syrian refugee family. The second letter from CRA discusses whether a registered charity can return…
I recently delivered a webinar to CharityVillage on Charitable Receipting: Do’s and don’ts for Canadian registered charities. If you are interested in seeing the slides or listening to the webinar you can do so at Charitable Receipting: Do’s and don’ts for Canadian…
There seems to still be interest in the topic of charities and political activities! My prayers that we focus on more important issues have not been answered. I get calls or emails every few days asking about it. It is…
We are pleased to announce the Blumbergs' Canadian Charity Law Institute 2017 will be on Monday October 16, 2017. Further details will follow. Registration and early bird information is here.
In a press release entitled “Minister Lebouthillier welcomes the Panel Report on the public consultations on charities and political activities” CRA noted the receipt of a report on charities and political activities. That report was reflective of the vast majority…
On May 25, 2017, I will be doing a free webinar for CharityVillage on Charitable Receipting Do's and Don'ts which will discuss receipting by Canadian registered charities.
Mark Blumberg will be co-presenting on “How community foundations can lead and engage in small ‘a’ advocacy” in Ottawa at the Community Foundations of Canada 2017 Conference on Saturday May 13, 2017. Here are more details on the session: Block…
David Callahan, is the editor of Inside Philanthropy, and he is one the top progressive experts on philanthropy in the US. His article “Second Thoughts: Why I Changed My Mind About Philanthropy and Public Policy” has nothing to do with…
We have provided two letters recently released by the Canada Revenue Agency. The first letter from CRA discusses whether a donation to a fund maintained and controlled by a municipality constitutes a gift for income tax purposes. The second letter from…
Here is our article “Which Canadian charities spent money on foreign activities in 2015 and how much did they spend?”
On the CRA database it has become apparent that CRA has recently revoked the charitable status of two religious organizations that conduct significant foreign activities. We have put in a request to CRA for information on why they were revoked.…
Here is an article that I wrote for the Ontario Hospital Association entitled Seven Key Tasks of Hospital Foundation Boards.
Carleton University has a Master of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership (MPNL). They do some very interesting programs relating to the non-profit and charity sector. On April 28, 2017 they will be holding a one day program entitled The Future of Charity…
Here is an interesting article from the NPQ entitled “Wallace Global Fund Fires Law Firm for Aiding Trump’s “Ethical Carnage”. It discusses how a large US charity has decided to sever a long term relationship with a major US law…
Canada has a mechanism to recognize certain foreign universities for purposes of donations. It is probably the most generous tax incentive system of any country in the world. Essentially if you are a degree granting university outside of Canada and…
We have just released our Blumbergs' Canadian Charity Sector Snapshot 2015. Lots of interesting statistics and information on the Canadian charity sector. As well if you want information on individual charities or want to sort charities based on about 20 criteria checkout…
Kate Robertson and Mark Blumberg recently prepared Part 2 of the article series, Guidance for Professional Athletes considering Philanthropy in Canada. This article provides suggestions and tips for professional athletes (and their trusted advisors) with respect to estabishing and operating a successful Canadian registered…
For Ontario non-profit corporations the next few years will be challenging from a corporate law point of view. Here is our article “Fed up with ONCA yet? Consider skipping it altogether and moving to the Federal CNCA“. Furthermore, Blumbergs has…
The 2017 Canadian Federal Budget was released today. Here is our article 2017 Canadian Federal Budget – How will it affect the Canadian charitable sector?
The Ontario Hospital Association is having a conference entitled “Strengthening Foundation Governance: Current Issues, Challenges and Solutions“. I will be presenting on Charitable Giving, Transparency and Standards. There will be a number of other interesting presentations. Charitable Giving, Transparency and…
The Charity Commission has recently updated their guidance “Charity finances: trustee essentials“. It provides helpful information on finances that Canadian directors and trustees, as well as staff, should be aware of. Keep in mind that on certain points the law in…
This recent article in The Guardian entitled Charity regulator to crack down on political advocacy after complaints discusses how the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) has cracked down on certain political activities by charities in Australia and how the ACNC is asking…