I recently contacted Industry Canada and they advised that as at December 18, 2015 there were 19,997 not-for-profit corporations under Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (“CNCA”) . The figure includes new incorporations, continuances from the CCA and continuances from other acts The…
The Charity Commission of England and Wales just released a report entitled Campaigning and political issues arising in the run-up to the 2015 General Election. When they put it out they probably did not think that it is such a special…
The Honourable Justice F.J. Pizzitelli of the Tax Court of Canada dealt with a motion in V. Ross Morrison v. The Queen. The court dismissed the motion with costs. The cases deals with the Canadian Humanitarian Trust (“CHT”) and Canadian Gift Initiative…
The CRA has been focusing in on charities that have not been active for a number of consecutive years. They have been sending out letters to the various charities asking them if they want to voluntarily give up their charitable…
In R. v. Kueviakoe, 2015 ONCJ 681 (CanLII) Ekue Kueviakoe was charged with numerous offences contrary to the Income Tax Act (Canada) because he prepared many false income tax returns. He was fined at a rate of 100% of the tax avoided on…
As we know the Federal government is creating a new higher top marginal tax rate for those earning income over $200,000 and increasing the tax on that income from 29% to 33%. From a tax policy perspective this will increase the progressivity of the income…
The Toronto Star had an article of December 5, 2015 entitled “Cancer foundation co-founder misused donor cash, judge finds”. It sheds some light on how a co-founder of a Canadian registered charity, Steven Sokolowski, has been ordered to repay to the…
Today the Canada Revenue Agency announced the revocation of the registration of of the Canadian registered charity Le Refuge des Rescapes for issuing over $2 million in official donation receipts connected with an abusive charity gifting tax scheme. Here is a copy…
I noticed recently a couple of new notices/disclaimers on the CRA website relating to CharityFocus.ca and the credibility of registered charities. The first statement: Complementing the Charities Listings is Charity Focus, a tool that was developed by Imagine Canada in…
The Mowat Centre recently released a report with the aim of promoting the discussion of decent work in the NFP sector and encouraging action on NFP workforce development issues. The report is a result of an 18 month collaboration between the Ontario Nonprofit Network,…
It is interesting to see that CRA used to refer to “abusive charity gifting tax schemes” and they appear to be lumping them in with fraud. “Meet Mary & William. Mary and William are a married couple with kids. They have…
The Tax Court of Canada recently released a decision where they dismissed the appeals of former spouses relating to reassessments under the Income Tax Act with respect to their alleged charitable donations made in 2003, 2004 and 2005. The Minister of…
A number of media outlets have reported that allegedly March of Dimes Canada has been hit with a $800,000 fraud over an 8 year period. Here is a report from consumer reporter Sean O’Shea. “Toronto woman charged in alleged defrauding of the…
CRA recently released a letter which discusses whether a gift of a share of the capital stock of a corporation to a public foundation to which subsection 118.1(5) applies after 2015, would qualify as an 'excepted gift' as defined in…
The terrible events recently in Paris remind charities of the importance of ensuring that their resources are not used to support of terrorism. This applies to charities operating in Canada and also those who operate outside of Canada. Periodically charities should…
Corporations Canada has a new email address when filing documents through e-mail. This is particularly important for CNCA corporations. The e-mail address has been changed to IC.corporationscanada.IC@canada.ca. In the meantime, Corporations Canada still receives and accepts filings sent through the…
The Conservative loss in the 2015 Federal election and the Liberal majority government will have some impact on the Canadian charity sector. Here is my article What does the 2015 Federal election mean for Canadian charities?
We have previously blogged about the decision of the Tax Court of Canada in David, R. et al. v. the Queen (TCC) (here and here). In this decision, the court allowed the appeals of the respondents relating to tax credits that had…
CRA recently released a letter which discusses whether a park qualifies as a municipal or public body performing a function of government for purposes of 149(1)(c) of the Act and the definition of a qualified donee in subsection 149.1(1). CRA determined that the…
There is a small category of qualified donees called “registered foreign charitable organizations that have received a gift from Her Majesty in right of Canada”. Qualified donees are groups that can issue official donation receipts under the Income Tax Act…
On November 9, 2015 I will be presenting a program for the Ontario Bar Association, along with Nevena Urosevic, on Top Compliance Issues for Canadian Charities. It is available both in-person and by webcast. Here is the blurb and information on registration: Top…
In the case Mariano v. The Queen 2015 TCC 244 the Honourable Justice F.J. Pizzitelli reviewed in great detail the Global Learning Trust (2004) and the Global Learning Gift Initiative (GLGI) program. These programs are what CRA calls abusive charity gifting tax schemes. For those…
The “All My Relations Gathering: Innovation Emerging from Tradition” conference will be taking place in Winnipeg this year on November 17-18, 2015. Here is information on the conference from the Circle: The Circle on Philanthropy and Aboriginal Peoples in Canada…
We have prepared as part of the Sean Blumberg Transparency Project this Snapshot on Political Activities in the Canadian Charity Sector 2013. The Snapshot on Political Activities in the Canadian Charity Sector 2013 will be helpful to those who are interested in…