Here is a redacted copy of a notice sent by the Charities Directorate of CRA reminding charities of their filing date and the consequences of not filing the T3010 Registered Charity Information Return within 6 months of the end of…
The Department of Finance has released its estimates of tax expenditures. Here is the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures – Concepts, Estimates and Evaluations 2017. A number of the examples given of tax expenditures apply to charities: The exemption from tax…
In Canada, the Charities Directorate of CRA reviews carefully all registered charity applications. Some of the latest statistics from the CRA show that most charities that apply for registration are not granted it. It is not that these organizations are…
In August 2016 we launched a website to improve transparency on Canadian registered charities. It is at www.charitydata.ca We have just made a number of improvements to the website. Here are some of the improvements: 1) We have added more…
Imagine Canada has announced that their original “Ethical Code Program” is being merged with their new Standards Program. They are notifying charities that “The Program will remain open, and participants may continue to use the trustmark, until December 31, 2016. After that…
We recently reviewed the private foundations contained on the T3010 Registered Charity Information Return for 2013, 2014 and 2015. We looked at who had the largest expenditures, what their total assets were and the percentage of total assets that were disbursed…
I recently read a press release from a Canadian think tank that said “Charitable giving in Canada hits 10-year low”. They proposed “In total, Canadians claimed $9 billion in charitable donations in 2014. But had Canadians donated in 2014 at…
The Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) recently released a new form which allows charities to easily update CRA on any changes to their directors, trustees or like officials. The Charities Directorate will not speak to an individual…
Mark Blumberg recently presented a webinar for the Canadian Charity Law Association (CCLA) to discuss CRA’s consultation on political activities and the importance of Canadian charities conducting political activities. The deadline for submissions to CRA has been extended to…
CRA recently announced that the mailing of a printed copy of the Form T2081, Excess Corporate Holdings Worksheet for Private Foundations will no longer be sent out to affected charities. However, this form will be accessible to affected charities on…
Recently we noticed that CRA is now including a T3010 reminder notice in the Notification of Registration letters being issued to new Canadian registered charities. The reminder notice relates to the due date of the charity's annual information return with CRA. This…
CRA recently released its first video as part of a new educational video series on 'Gifting and Receipting'. This series is meant to educate the public, donors, and those involved in the charitable sector on the type of donations that…
I am pleased to be co-presenting to the ICN a webinar on “CRA Regulations and the Political Activities of Charities“. Here is the blurb on it: An ICN Webinar – CRA Regulations and the Political Activities of Charities On September…
We are proud to present the Blumbergs’ Snapshot of the Ontario Charity Sector 2014. The data subset used is the CRA's 2014 T3010 data but only for registered charities based in Ontario. A large part of the Canadian registered charity sector is based…
As many know the CRA has launched a consultation on political activities by Canadian charities. The Canadian Charity Law Association will be having Mark Blumberg present a webinar on the consultation and various ways of responding or not responding to it.…
On October 28, 2016 at the Blumbergs' Charity Law Institute we will be presenting the results of the Blumbergs’ Snapshot of the Ontario Charity Sector 2014 including how the numbers have changed between 2011 and 2014. Some of the highlights from 2014…
The House of Commons Finance Committee (FINA) has posted the pre-budget submissions that it received. There are 420 briefs including our brief Increasing the productivity of the charity and non-profit sector through greater transparency and accountability. If anyone notices any other…
The work that charities do is extremely important to our society, so it is vital that various stakeholders, such as the public, the media, the government, donors, employees, boards, donors and others. have access to key information on what the…
Here is a copy of a CRA Powerpoint presentation slide deck on the Regulation of Charities – Overview – September 2014. It provides some useful information including the CRA's audit plan. For example, the audit plan shows that CRA planned on auditing…
Here is a recent CharityVillage article entitled “A national charity census: Mark Blumberg's Snapshot of the Canadian Charity Sector” which highlights the recent Blumbergs’ Snapshot of the Canadian Charity Sector 2014. Blumbergs has been providing the Blumbergs' Snapshot of the…
The Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency ('CRA') recently developed an infographic to help charities remember their T3010 filing deadlines. CRA is in the process of introducing new and different ways to encourage voluntary compliance for Canadian registered charities. The T3010 is…
Blumbergs has just released a new website with over 10 years T3010 information for each Canadian registered charity. The site is a beta being tested but if you are interested you can visit the website at www.charitydata.ca It is free…
As a result of the 2016 Quebec Budget, Canadian registered charities are no longer required to complete a separate charitable registration in Quebec in order to be able to issue tax receipts to donors in Quebec. Previously, Canadian registered charities…
CRA recently released two new online registered charity information request forms which have been created to simplify the process when requesting certain types of information from CRA. Previously this information was typically requested by sending a letter/fax to CRA. Now it can be…