Canadian registered charities are not allowed to make donations to political parties. The Calgary Herald in an article entitled “U of C documents point to political donations that may have contravened election law” states “Thousands of dollars in “indirect contributions”…
Here is a short article that I wrote entitled “Focus on Canadian Charities and Political Activities” for the Canadian Donor’s Guide in May 2012. Focus on Canadian Charities and Political Activities
In January 2012 I put in an access to information request to the Department of Finance relating to certain inappropriate activities by Canadian charities. In April 2012 I received a partial response. It includes everything from newspaper articles to secret…
The Charities Directorate has released Charities Connection No. 12 – June 2012 newsletter which deal with the charity provisions of the 2012 Federal Budget, Charity Quick View, the Registered Charity Basic Information Sheet and the recent CRA guidance on fundraising.…
The Charity Finance Group is a group of charity finance managers based in the UK. They prepared recently a “Guide on Charity Fraud: A guide for the trustees and managers of charities”. Canadian charities may find the free guide helpful…
The CBC just ran a story entitled “Hindu temple faces fine over tsunami donations”. It discusses a recent fine imposed by CRA on the charity. According to the lawyer for the charity the matter will be appealed so it will…
Andy Levy-Ajzenkopf of CharityVillage recently wrote an article “Don’t be a nonprofit party to terror” which discusses regulatory and risk management issues for charities in the area of preventing terrorism. Here is a link to Andy Levy-Ajzenkopf’s article “Don’t be…
There have been a number of articles dealing with Canadian charities and political activities over the last few weeks. Here are some of them: Green gets mean with Ottawa: Conservatives’ proposed dilution of environmental laws, attacks on groups has created…
The CRA has posted another short video for donors on YouTube. In 3 1/2 minutes is covers quite a lot. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28JP7NdHoGg&list=PL1E5C4C9A88191868
Here are the letters from CRA to HEDAC (Help Eliminate Disease and Addiction Canada) which explain why HEDAC was revoked for cause. Letters from CRA to HEDAC
The CRA recently revoked for cause the charitable registration of Power Zone Outreach Ministries. Here are the CRA letters to Power Zone Outreach Ministries explaining why the registered charity was revoked for cause.
The Standing Committee on Finance dealt with the charity provisions in the 2012 Federal Budget on May 28, 2012 from approximately 7 p.m. to 9 pm. The subject matter was “Bill C-38, An Act to implement certain provisions of the…
The National Post has written two articles on Canadian hospitals and their Tim Horton operations. As these articles deal with the nexus between our charitable sector (very important) and Tim Hortons (vital) I feel I must comment. Both articles say…
I was asked to make another submission before the Standing Committee on Finance next Monday May 28, 2012 on the 2012 Federal Budget. (Bill C-38, An Act to implement certain provisions of the Budget and other measures) I just appeared…
Today I will be presenting to the Ontario Hospital Association Conference on “Top legal compliance concerns for Canadian registered charities” and a second presentation on “Ethical Decision-Making in the Not-For-Profit Sector”. It was a busy day – also presented to…
The Globe and Mail had an article today entitled “Noose tightens around donation tax schemes”. It discusses litigation around some schemes that the CRA characterizes as “abusive gifting tax schemes”. Here is a link to the Globe and Mail article:…
The Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer has released a very interesting report entitled “Cost Estimates of Proposed Tax Measures to Encourage Charitable Donations of Assets”. It was written by Stephen Tapp. It looks at the effect of increasing certain…
Here is the transcript from the Standing Committee on Finance on May 8, 2012. 6 witnesses, lots of questions. I was one of the witnesses. Here is the May 8, 2012 Finance Committee (FINA) committee transcript on charity transparency, tax…
According to Danie Huppé-Cranford, Director of the Compliance Division of the Charities Directorate the tentative 2011 numbers for abusive charity gifting tax schemes in Canada are down slightly in 2011 compared to 2010. The 2011 tentative numbers for abusive charity…
Here is an updated version of my article Top Ten Canadian Charity Law Issues. incorporating some of the recent changes. A lot has happened over the last 2 years and here is an updated version of Top Ten Canadian Charity…
Here is an excerpt from a speech by Cathy Hawara, Director General of the Charities Directorate of the CRA on the issue of Canadian charities and political activities. “Let me now turn to some of the highlights of Budget 2012…
Here are some comments from Cathy Hawara, Director General of the Charities Directorate, relating to the issue of Canadian charities and ineligible individuals rules in the 2011 Federal Budget. “Now I’d like to move on to another significant change of…
Cathy Hawara, Director General of the Charities Directorate, made some comments on the 2012 Federal budget changes affecting the category of qualified donee charitable organizations outside Canada to which Her Majesty in right of Canada has made a gift. She…
Here are some comments from Cathy Hawara, Director General of the Charities Directorate, relating to the 2011 Federal Budget provisions enhancing transparency for qualified donees (ie. those organizations who can issue official donation receipts). “The first change introduced by Budget…