Here is a CRA letter covering whether a charity that sets up a separate non-profit to sell in kind gifts at cost that the charity received and receipted would be considered to be organized and operated as a 149(1)(l) entityCRA_letter_on_charity_with_separate_non-profit_selling_in_kind_gifts_at_cost.pdf…
There was an article this week by Janet Gadeski, Editor of Canadian Fundraising & Philanthropy talking about GlobalPhilanthropy.ca (TM), its roots and mission.
Burlington, ON – October 21 (click here for the full brochure) Join us on October 21 for two new Fundraising Guidance and Receipting Workshops in Burlington! Burlington Golf & Country Club 422 North Shore Boulevard East, Burlington Understanding CRA’s…
Here is a Summary of the Fourth International Conference of Charity Regulators which was held in Washington, D.C. on May 11 -13. Cathy Hawara and Terry de March from CRA attended. Here is a Summary of the Fourth International Conference…
Here is information on some upcoming presentations I am doing with the Certified Management Accountants of Ontario on Top Compliance Issues for Canadian Registered Charities and their Directors in the GTA including Toronto, Mississauga, Markham, in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, in…
Here is a useful document entitled “New rules for charities’ fundraising expenses and program spending – questions for directors to ask”
It is good to see that in 2009 the problem of abusive charity gifting tax shelters has been further reduced. Here are the statistics from CRA: 2009: Number of “Donors”/Investors: 10,813 donors Amount of “donations”: $ 285,946,839 Number of schemes:…
One of the categories of qualified donees under proposed legislation is municipal or public bodies performing a function of government in Canada. Here is a CRA letter on whether an Indian band is a public body performing a function of…
A bill to impose a salary cap on Canadian registered charities has passed 2nd reading and will shortly be reviewed by the Finance Committee of the House of Commons. As they say, there is usually one simple solution to a…
Here is a list of CRA 2010 Charities Information Sessions Here is the CRA Notice: The Charities Directorate at the Canada Revenue Agency will be conducting free Charities Information Sessions in your region and would like to invite your…
CIDA has announced that it will have a matching fund for donations raised by Canadian charities for the Pakistan relief from August 2 to September 12. The Pakistan Floods Relief Fund will not be given to each charity that raised…
I will be doing a number of programs for the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario (ICAO) including on Top Compliance Issues – Registered Charities, Directors, CAs; Charity Fundraising and Receipting Rules and Recent Legal Developments Affecting Registered Charities. Top…
I will be one of the presenters at an upcoming PFC program called Global Giving – Possibilities and Pitfalls. PFC 2010 Professional Development Sessions 555 René Lévesque Blvd. West Suite 900 Montreal, QC H2Z 1B1 T. 514.866.5446 F. 514.866.5846 www.pfc.ca…
Tomorrow, the Humanitarian Coalition will launch an appeal for flooded Pakistan. Here is a link to their website. For those who have not heard of the Humanitarian Coalition it is “a network of Canadian NGOs determined to unite in cases…
Here is the segment (2.5 minutes) with Sean O’Shea, a consumer reporter for Global TV. Mark Blumberg, moi, is being interviewed along with much more serious, important, and influential characters such as Marcel Lauzière of Imagine Canada
The case involves the CRA denial of EFILING privileges to Mr. Christopher Paterson, an individual who prepares clients’ returns because he assisted them with a “scheme” in which the applicant “accepted money from taxpayers who wished to “donate” to these…
The Kootenay Doukhobor Historical Society v. The Queen case illustrates quite well that even if a non-profit and a staff person agree that the staff person is an independent contractor, there is an independent contractor agreement, and the staff person…
Here is a list with the 2008 – 2011 deregistrations with scanned copies of the actual letters sent by CRA to the charities outlining their reasons for revoking or annulling their charitable status. In some cases there are links to…
In this letter, CRA discusses whether a religious organization qualified as a religious organization for the purpose of paragraph 8(1)(c) deduction under the Income Tax Act (Canada). In this case the organization “failed to satisfy all six conditions set out…
Here is a copy of a sample Canadian Charity Audit Pre-Audit List and Charities Directorate Audit Questionnaire for a general audit by CRA. The list gives an indication of the documents and questions that CRA may cover or ask on…
CRA has recently released a new guidance called “Canadian Registered Charities Carrying out Activities Outside Canada”. Although the name suggests “foreign activities” this document deals with a lot more than foreign activities. It covers the relationship between a Canadian charity…
A lot can be written on mission trips and the appropriateness of issuing receipts. CRA has been auditing charities that are innapropriately issuing receipts with certain types of trips or travel. It is very dependent on the exact facts of…
Too many people think that fair market value is the “highest price” you can get for something. In fact that is not correct and the “highest price” is not fair market value – it is the “highest price”. Here is…
Alberta requires some charities to register under its Charitable Fund-raising Act including those who raise $25,000 or more per year, or use a fundraising business to fundraise for the charity. There are exclusions if your charity only fundraises from family…