This is a commonly asked question. For some it is very simple – the Prime Minister is up late at night and decides who will live and who will die! Others probably think that there is a big wheel…
I recently wrote an article for Hilborn entitled “CRA consultation on political activities – to submit or not to submit?” Here is the text of the article: CRA consultation on political activities – to submit or not to submit? The…
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…
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.…
The UK Charity Commission has published a report regarding its inquiry into a registered charity (the Bristol Community Church Trust). The inquiry started in 2011 and related to sexual abuse allegations that were made against the charity's youth pastor and…
I am pleased to be on a panel at Arnova in Washington entitled “The Foundation Payout Debate: Comparative Perspectives on Distribution, Perpetuity and the Role of Foundations”. Here is the full description and presenters: The Foundation Payout Debate: Comparative Perspectives…
Blumbergs has created a very interesting new website called CharityData.ca. Here is a short video which provides an overview of this powerful tool with information on over 86,000 Canadian registered charities with up to 10 years historical information on each registered…
Imagine Canada has put out a very interesting report on a survey of Canadian charities and their answers relating to political activities. The Sector Monitor report is prepared by David Lasby of Imagine Canada and is well worth reading. One of the…
The CRA today launched its political activity consultation. It reinforces the importance of charities being engaged in the political process. The CRA is looking for feedback on the rules and CRA's guidance. People or organizations have until November 25, 2016…
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 CRA has issued a media advisory that the “Honourable Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of National Revenue, will launch public consultations to clarify the rules regarding the involvement of registered charities in political activities.” She will make the announcement tomorrow, Tuesday, September…
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…
The Liberal Government has made some noises about modernizing charity law. Who could be opposed to modernization? As there is no idea as to what “modernization” means, it has opened up all sorts of calls for changes to charity law…
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…
In the notes section of a CRA presentation “Regulation of Charities – Overview” the CRA notes that in 2012 the amount of receipts issued was $14.28 Billion and that “the federal assistance for charitable donations in 2012 exceeded $2.9 ……
A Canadian charity has launched a charter challenge against the restrictions on registered charities in carrying out political activities. They argue that it violates freedom of speech and assembly amongst other things. The CBC covered it in an article entitled “Anti-poverty…
The Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada) have released today a booklet entitled 20 Questions Directors of Not-for-Profit Organizations Should Ask about Mergers. It is located on this CPA Canada page. It is written by Andrea Cohen Barrack, CEO of the Ontario…
The CBC recently wrote an article entitled “Iris Kirby House fundraising foundation refiles public charity disclosure documents to fix errors”. The article covered a registered charity and the mistakes in its T3010 Registered Charity Information Return filings. It is not often…
The Charity Commission of England and Wales has recently released a draft guidance on the types of controls English charities should be using when providing grants to non-English charities. The draft guidance is entitled “Grant funding an organisation that isn’t a…
Here is the Blumbergs' Submission to Finance Committee in August 2016 on transparency and accountability.
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…
In a recent decision Mariano v. The Queen, the Tax Court of Canada (TCC) awarded a very large cost award in favour of CRA (who was the respondent in the matter) and against GLGI, the promoter, and some of its investors. The…
Markou v. The Queen, 2016 TCC 137 is a super boring case dealing with the jurisdiction of the Tax Court of Canada and whether such court can make a determination as to whether certain proceeds are part of a Quistclose trust. Beyond…
Deluca v Canada, 2016 ONSC 3865, is an Ontario Court of Justice claim by Mr. Deluca against the CRA. Mr. Deluca had invested over $100,000 in a tax shelter involving a barter network and 'donations' to a registered charity. When CRA denied…