The Australian website Pro Bono Australia has published an article on an Australian Federal Court decision to impose a $1.5 million fine on a “fake philanthropic scheme was modelled on an arrangement which previously failed in Canada, and involved the…
The Canada Revenue Agency has distributed a press release that it has revoked the registration of African Computer and Technology Literacy Awareness Program (ACTLAP) Inc. for involvement with an abusive charity gifting tax scheme. Here is the text of the press release:…
In a recent case French v. The Queen, 2015 TCC 35, the CRA asked that certain arguments related to defining a gift be struck as they had no hope of success. Campbell J. Miller of the Tax Court of Canada agreed with CRA.…
According to Canadian Press “The federal revenue agency can now hand the police possible evidence of serious crime — including terrorist activity — that it happens to come across while reviewing taxpayer files. The Canada Revenue Agency gained the little-noticed new authority,…
A few years back the Australian government set up the Australian Charities and Not-For-Profit Commission (ACNC). Then a new government came into power and decided that having the ACNC was just red tape and that it should be abolished. Thankfully…
The Globe and Mail had an article by Konrad Yakabuski questioning the degree of transparency about sources of funding with Canadian registered charities that are “think tanks” Here is the Globe and Mail article “Think tanks need to show us the money“.…
Here is an updated version of the Canadian Charity Legal Checklist. For those who are interested in reviewing legal compliance for their registered charity they may find the checklist helpful.
We recently reviewed the T3010 information for 2012. The database was prepared by the Charities Directorate of CRA in June 2014 and covers about 85,477 charities which is almost all of the 2012 T3010 returns. Canadian registered charities were required…
Blumbergs has provided a submission to the Finance Committee (FINA) as part of the 2015 pre-budget consultation. It deals with non-profit transparency and accountability. View Article
On February 11, 2015, I will be delivering a webinar for the Ontario Nonprofit Network (ONN) entitled “Advocacy and Political Activities: Busting myths and misconceptions!” Here is the information on the webinar: Webinar Wednesdays: Advocacy and Political Activities: Busting myths…
I received an email from Marni Soupcoff of the Canadian Constitution Foundation. She discusses the narrative that supposedly no “right-leaning” groups are being audited for political activities. I thought I would share it. Dear Mr. Blumberg, On January 20, news broke…
Starting January 15, 2015, the CASL provisions pertaining to the installation of computer programs come into effect. These new provisions require persons who install software or computer programs on another person’s computer system, in the course of commercial activity, to…
Mark will be presenting at the OHA 3nd Annual Strengthening Foundation Governance Workshop on May 22, 2015 on “Top Compliance Issues for Foundations”. Here is the blurb: “Top Compliance Issues for Foundations”. • An examination of the top legal compliance…
CBC discusses charitable giving in an article entitled “Holiday giving? Don't pick a charity by financial statements alone: Research, volunteer and donate directly if you want to give smart this holiday season”. The article discusses some ideas as to how donors…
We have discussed on this blog the Broader Public Sector Executive Compensation Act, 2014 (the “Act”). The Act has now been passed on December 9, 2014 and received Royal Assent on December 11, 2014. It will be interesting to see…
We are looking forward to presenting the Blumbergs' Canadian Charity Law Boot Camp 2015 on April 14, 2015. For information or to register see: Blumbergs' Canadian Charity Law Boot Camp 2015
The Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency has revoked the charitable registration of Ecotecture: Centre for Ecological Art and Architecture for its involvement in a scheme known as the Via Project or Vintage Iconic Archives. The former registered charity…
For a number of months Corporations Canada of Industry Canada has provided more director information on their website with respect to Federal non-profit Corporations under the Canada Corporations Act (“CCA”) and new Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (“CNCA”). Previously, the list…
Tax Court of Canada has released a number of judgements dealing with false receipting this week. The cases all relate to a scheme in Vancouver involving the issuance of approximately $12 million in false receipts. The cases of Azim Bani…
I just read this CRA FAQ with the latest numbers on abusive gifting charity tax shelters. “As of March 31, 2014, the CRA has denied more than $6.3 billion in donation claims and reassessed over 190,000 taxpayers who participated in…
CRA has posted the T3010 Registered Charity Information Returns for 82,000 of the 86,000 Canadian registered charities. About 477 Canadian registered charities identified conducting political activities whether by volunteer, staff or spending funds. Here is a link to our article…
CRA has put up another reminder to Canadians about abusive charity gifting tax shelters. The title is “Warning: be cautious if you are thinking of participating in a gifting tax shelter schemes” CRA notes “Since 2006, the CRA has seen a…
The Supreme Court will be hearing the Guindon case in December. The case deals with the constitutionality of certain penalties that are provided for in the Income Tax Act (Canada). We have discussed the case in an earlier blog posting. It…
Recently the Globe and Mail had a story entitled “Canada Revenue Agency delists foreign charities”. CRA has recently added the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation to the “List of registered foreign charitable organizations that have received a gift from Her…