A great deal has been written about legal compliance surrounding charities in Canada. Much of that material, however, is highly specialized, hard to understand, and sometimes esoteric. As a result, it can be difficult for charities, employees, and volunteers to…
Being a director of a Canadian registered charity is an important task and this article may be helpful in explaining some of the expectations and requirements of the position. Download PDF version There are approximately 600,000 Canadians who voluntarily serve…
Here is a new checklist from Blumbergs that will assist Canadian registered charities either interested or currently conducting foreign activities. It is called Canadian Charity Foreign Activity Legal Checklist – Working with Foreign Charities or Intermediaries 2017. Some other resources that…
The US House and Senate are looking at major changes to the tax code that could have a significant impact on US donors and whether they receive any tax incentives for their donations. Now, 1 in 3 US donors may get…
Apparently a class action lawsuit has been launched relating to the GLGI scheme. In a press release the lawyers for the plaintiffs note “the commencement of a proposed $800 million class action lawsuit against Global Learning Group Inc. (GLGI), and other individuals and entities…
The CRA has recently announced the launch of a new program called the Charities Education Program. The program is going to have CRA auditors visit charities but not in the normal audit capacity. The CRA anticipates that about 500 of these visits…
On November 20, 2017 I am presenting to the AFP GTA Congress 2017 a breakout session “T3010 and Transparency in the Charitable Sector”. Here are the details: G-04: T3010 and Transparency in the Charitable Sector Workshop Topic: Financial/Legal Monday, November 20, 2017…
Many Canadian charities conduct gala dinners although it seems fewer than in the past. We recently spoke to CRA regarding the amounts that should be deducted for gala dinners as an advantage when issuing receipts. CRA said that any costs to…
Canada has an unusually generous system in which foreign universities that have a couple of Canadian students studying there can obtain the equivalent of Canadian registered charity status with almost none of the obligations. Here is an article describing that…
The Charity Commission of England and Wales has released a guidance Grant funding an organisation that isn’t a charity. It sets certain standards when an English charity provides a grant to a group that is not a charity such as a…
CRA has provided information through ATIP on third-party civil penalties from 2009 to 2016. The number of completed third-party penalty audits where it was determined that the penalty would be applied is 67. The amount of the penalties was about $164 million. Here…
There are approximately 32,000 registered charities in Canada that are religious charities. They account for approximately 40% of all the registered charities in Canada. It is important that Canadian registered charities are aware of CRA‘s views on what is religion and…
[UPDATED RECEIPTING KIT 2018] We have just released our updated Blumbergs' Receipting Kit 2017. The Blumbergs' Receipting Kit 2017 is for Canadian registered charities and other qualified donees who wish to issue official donation receipts under the Income Tax Act (Canada), which…
Mark Blumberg will be delivering two upcoming Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario (CPA Ontario) charity programs: Charity Fundraising and Receipting Rules – A Primer for Accountants and T3010 and Transparency in the Charitable Sector. Here are the text descriptions of the 2 upcoming…
CRA has just published a lengthy page on Personal information of directors, trustees and like officials that discusses how the Charities Directorate uses personal information provided in a charity application and in your registered charity's annual filings. Here are the top 10…
Although the CRA has little guidance on internal controls, they are increasingly focusing on internal controls, or the lack thereof, in charities. Internal controls are “a procedure or policy put in place by management to safeguard assets, promote accountability, increase efficiency,…
An interesting new report from The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) as well as the Australian Transactions Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) published on August 28, 2017 looked at “the risk of money laundering and terrorism financing in the not-for-profit sector, key vulnerabilities and…
Here is Blumbergs' comments on the Ontario Government Proposal to Allow Compensation of Directors of Charities Without Court Order that were submitted to the Ministry of the Attorney General today.
The CRA has included a lengthy privacy statement in its T3010 after the certification and before the “checklist”. This was not included in the 2016 return. Hidden and barely noticeable within the text is “Incomplete or inaccurate information may result in…
The Ontario Government is looking at adding a regulation to the Charities Accounting Act that would allow in certain circumstances compensation for directors without specific legislation or court order. “The regulation would authorize incorporated charities to pay their directors and…
There were supposed to be 2 important changes taking place on July 1, 2017 with Canada’s anti-spam legislation (CASL). The first was a new “private right of action” for individuals to sue businesses and charities if they received commercial electronic…
The Canadian Charity Law Association (CCLA) is pleased to present: Charities, Regulation and Donors – some international perspectives on June 22, 2017 at 8:30AM in Toronto. The 1/2 day program will cover 4 thought provoking topics (see bios below) and…
In this article Some of the Canadian charities that spend the most on political activities? I have not only listed some of the Canadian charities that spent the most on political activities but also showed readers how they can find and sort the…
Here is an article entitled Total revenue received from all sources outside Canada by Canadian Registered Charities in 2015 which lists the Canadian charities that received the largest contributions from outside of Canada. The charity world is increasingly international…