The CRA has revised its Pamphlet “Gifts and Income Tax P113(E) Rev. 11” to reflect recent budget changes including reducing the incentives for packaged flow through donation schemes and other provisions from the 2011 Federal Budget. Here is the revised…
There are a few hundred foreign universities (ie. universities outside of Canada) that can issue Canadian official donation receipts and are therefore “qualified donees” similar to registered charities. The list of these universities was hidden on page 1550 of a…
The CRA will be preparing a list of “Municipal and public bodies performing a function of government in Canada”. These “Municipal and public bodies performing a function of government in Canada” are qualified donees and can issue official donation receipts…
Canadian municipalities can issue official donation receipts similar to registered charities. Sometimes it is not clear whether a group is considered to be a municipality. In the past you would have to call CRA or write to them to verify…
The CRA has released a list of RCAAAs revoked for various reasons including for cause, failure to file their annual return, or voluntary revocation. According to CRA here is the list of revoked RCAAAs. Revoked Associations that have been…
The CRA has published a list of registered Canadian amateur athletic associations (RCAAAs). Very interesting to see the names of RCAAAs and also those that were deregistered over the last few years. There are currently about 119 RCAAAs. CRA was…
The 2011 Federal Budget received Royal Assent on December 16, 2011. There were a number of changes that affect charities, RCAAAs and other types of qualified donees that were in the budget. Here is a copy of the press release…
Here is a great piece by Katherine Van Kooy in the Calgary Herald entitled ‘Charity rankings often don’t tell the full story’. Katherine van Kooy is the president and CEO of the Calgary Chamber of Voluntary Organizations (CCVO). Recently,…
Here is my article Budget 2011 and new “ineligible individual” category: How this can affect your Canadian registered charity. Download Article
Scarfone Hawkins LLP has announced that a there is a settlement of the Banyan Tree class action lawsuit, subject to court approval. On their website they state: “Settlement of Action This action has been settled. The settlement is subject to…
It is the time of year that many are thinking about and giving to charity. The Federal government sent out a press release stating “We encourage Canadians to donate generously but also to do their homework to ensure that the…
Here is a list of Canadian registered charities revoked over the last five years by CRA for cause. This list updates to previous lists and now includes the last five years.
In Sarsonas v. The Queen, 2011 TCC 559 (December 8, 2011) Sheridan J. delivers a decision on a claim by Mr. Sarsonas that he donated thousands of dollars to charity. Sheridan J. describes in detail a scheme in which some…
The CRA just put out a press release entitled “The Canada Revenue Agency revokes the charitable status of the Canadian Foundation for Tamil Refugee Rehabilitation”. The Canada Revenue Agency revokes the charitable status of the Canadian Foundation for Tamil…
Here are the CRA’s “Program areas and field codes” for the T3010 Registered Charity Information Return and the TF725 Registered Charity Basic Information Sheet (BIS). These codes are needed when you are completing the T3010. As well they are useful…
The new Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (CNCA) is in force as of October 17, 2011. Industry Canada has placed hundreds of pages of information on the new act on their website in over 70 different documents. We have tried to…
Charity Central, based in Edmonton, has released a series of resources entitled Road to Accountability to help Canadian charities deal with the issues of accountability and transparency. Here is a description from the their website: “Road to Accountability, a project…
David Baines of the Vancouver Sun just wrote an article dealing with the VIA Project entitled “Ontario company pitching controversial charitable donation scheme in Victoria: Canada Revenue Agency has disallowed similar ‘buy low, donate high’ schemes” Here is a link…
I recently gave a presentation to the Law Society of Upper Canada’s 14th Annual Estate and Trust Summit providing the Charity Law Update. Here is a copy of my slides. Here is a copy of my paper Charity Law Update…
Today the Toronto Star posted an article entitled “Audit of charities encounters resistance”. I think that it is very important that there be transparency about charities and I have written quite a bit on the subject. Charities must be transparent…
The Toronto Star has written about a Canadian charity named HEDAC in an article entitled “Toronto charity goes from zero to $60M in a year” Toronto charity goes from zero to $60M in a year November 16, 2011 10:11:00…
Another Canadian charity has been revoked involvement with “abusive charity gifting tax shelters”. [Update] Here is a copy of various letters from CRA to The Malvern Rouge Valley Youth Services. November 15, 2011 10:39 ET The Canada Revenue Agency…
The CRA has just released its Consultation on Proposed Guidance on Arts Organizations and Charitable Registration under the Income Tax Act. The link is here: The summary from the consultation draft is: Summary 1. The Canada Revenue Agency’s Charities…
The CRA released on November 1 a bulletin on the new Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (CNCA). Charities Connection is an electronic publication that gives registered charities information on technical issues, new guidance and policy changes, CRA initiatives, and reminders.…