On January 27, 2020, the Honourable Justice Ronald MacPhee of the Tax Court of Canada (TCC) rejected an appeal from Alexandru Tudora dealing with the Global Learning Gifting Initiative Program. I must admit I was not really paying attention as…
Here is a recent bulletin from CRA dealing with the problem of fraudulent official donation receipts. Canada Revenue Agency Feb 07, 2020, 16:33 ET TORONTO, Feb. 7, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ – The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced that George…
The Canadian Lawyer has an article Class action certified for “sham” charitable donation tax scheme. It discusses the class action lawsuit against a number of defendants dealing with the “Global Learning Gifting Initiative Charitable Donation Program” and how that class…
Here is our article “Some initial issues for a new Canadian grantmaking foundation“. Hopefully, it will provide some ideas as to issues that new (and perhaps existing) foundations should be considering. Also, here is our more comprehensive Canadian Charity Legal…
Mark Blumberg will be speaking on top compliance issues and transparency with investments at the 17th Annual Foundation, Endowment and Not for Profit Investment Summit (January 22-23, 2020) 4:25 PM (January 22) Navigating the Top Compliance Issues Facing Canadian Foundations…
We all see from the media the terrible wildfires in Australia. Some Canadian donors or charities have wanted to assist with the relief and recovery efforts as well as research and prevention. Here are a few thoughts specific to the…
Here are the CRA letters from a number of recent Canadian registered charity revocations. These letters from CRA cover many different grounds for de-registration. Some relate to relatively minor matters such as an organization being inactive for many years, to…
The Washington Post recently had an article entitled “Mormon Church has misled members on $100 billion tax-exempt investment fund, whistleblower alleges” The Washington Post article notes: A former investment manager alleges in a whistleblower complaint to the Internal Revenue Service…
There was recently an article in VOX entitled “Google’s Larry Page gave $400 million in Christmas donations. Not a penny went straight to charity. How Silicon Valley billionaires skirt charity rules each holiday season.” The article discusses how Larry Page…
Donor Advised Funds are registered charities in Canada that allow a donor to donate to the charity but the donor retains the ability to recommend which registered charities or qualified donees will receive the funds. Donor Advised Funds or DAFs…
It is now the giving season. We will hear lots from charities on Giving Tuesday and perhaps you will be inundated with too many emails on Giving Tuesday from charities that you rarely hear from! The media will be full…
I was recently on a VITREO podcast entitled Episode 31: The Impact of the Community Foundation – How They Have Become Power Players in Philanthropy and What it Means for the Sector. It dealt with community foundations, donor-advised funds and perpetual…
There was a recent Tax Court of Canada (“TCC”) case Miller v. The Queen, 2019 TCC 204. It is not an important or exciting case – it deals with a charity tax scheme. A person buys some multimedia courseware for $7000…
The Tyee, an online magazine, recently posted an opinion piece by Tom McMahon entitled “Why Environmental Groups’ Attack on Elections Canada Is Wrong, and Dangerous“. It is a very thoughtful piece from an individual who has a good understanding of electoral regulation. …
CANADALAND recently had a podcast which dealt with a number of topics but one of them was charities, political activities, Elections Canada and the upcoming Federal election. The podcast was called “#227 Scandal? What Scandal?”. In the podcast Jesse Brown is joined by Sandy…
There has been a lot of media and social media coverage over the last few days about non-profits and charities and the rules around their involvement in the upcoming election. To my dismay, much of it has been inaccurate. While…
There have been a number of articles discussing Jeffrey Epstein’s used of charities. One of the is the New York Times “Jeffrey Epstein’s Opaque Finances Could Become Focal Point for Investigators” which discusses his use of charities. “The money, tens…
On June 28, 2019, the Tax Court of Canada released its decision Promised Land Ministries v the Queen, in which it upheld CRA's decision to suspend the registered charity Promised Land Ministries (“PLM”)'s receipting privileges for one year for failing to…
We have created two new online courses for those outside of Toronto who are not able to easily attend our programs. They might also be helpful to those in Toronto who cannot wait for our next session as they sometimes only…
CRA has recently updated its Charities Listing and the most notable change is the fact that they have reduced the amount of information available on each Canadian registered charity. The Charities Listing used to have up to 15 years of data…
Properly issuing official donation receipts has been challenging for many registered charities. According to the CRA, 89% of registered charities that are audited by CRA are not correctly issuing official donation receipts. Issuing incorrect receipts can result in revocation or…
Every year Canadian registered charities must file the T3010 Registered Charity Information Return with the Charities Directorate of CRA. In June 2019 Canadian registered charities will be able to file the T3010 online which will make the process easier and…
I will be speaking at the CFA Society of Toronto 2019 Wealth Conference on May 1, 2019 dealing with the topic ”Professional Advisors and Philanthropy: Helping clients and yourself navigate philanthropy”. You can register for the program here. Here is the…
We are pleased to announce that we will be holding a full-day event on international philanthropy on April 12, 2019: Blumbergs' International Philanthropy Conference 2019. See below for more details and we hope to see you there. Over 5000 Canadian…