Andy Levy-Ajzenkopf of CharityVillage recently wrote an article “Don’t be a nonprofit party to terror” which discusses regulatory and risk management issues for charities in the area of preventing terrorism. Here is a link to Andy Levy-Ajzenkopf’s article “Don’t be…
The CRA has posted another short video for donors on YouTube. In 3 1/2 minutes is covers quite a lot. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28JP7NdHoGg&list=PL1E5C4C9A88191868
A few weeks ago CRA revoked the charitable status of an environmental group for involvement in an abusive gifting tax scheme. Sorry to disappoint some but no political activities here. The Canada Revenue Agency revokes the registration of Escarpment Biosphere…
Here are the letters from CRA to HEDAC (Help Eliminate Disease and Addiction Canada) which explain why HEDAC was revoked for cause. Letters from CRA to HEDAC
The Standing Committee on Finance dealt with the charity provisions in the 2012 Federal Budget on May 28, 2012 from approximately 7 p.m. to 9 pm. The subject matter was “Bill C-38, An Act to implement certain provisions of the…
Today I will be presenting to the Ontario Hospital Association Conference on “Top legal compliance concerns for Canadian registered charities” and a second presentation on “Ethical Decision-Making in the Not-For-Profit Sector”. It was a busy day – also presented to…
The Globe and Mail had an article today entitled “Noose tightens around donation tax schemes”. It discusses litigation around some schemes that the CRA characterizes as “abusive gifting tax schemes”. Here is a link to the Globe and Mail article:…
The Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer has released a very interesting report entitled “Cost Estimates of Proposed Tax Measures to Encourage Charitable Donations of Assets”. It was written by Stephen Tapp. It looks at the effect of increasing certain…
Here is the transcript from the Standing Committee on Finance on May 8, 2012. 6 witnesses, lots of questions. I was one of the witnesses. Here is the May 8, 2012 Finance Committee (FINA) committee transcript on charity transparency, tax…
According to Danie Huppé-Cranford, Director of the Compliance Division of the Charities Directorate the tentative 2011 numbers for abusive charity gifting tax schemes in Canada are down slightly in 2011 compared to 2010. The 2011 tentative numbers for abusive charity…
Here is an updated version of my article Top Ten Canadian Charity Law Issues. incorporating some of the recent changes. A lot has happened over the last 2 years and here is an updated version of Top Ten Canadian Charity…
Here is an excerpt from a speech by Cathy Hawara, Director General of the Charities Directorate of the CRA on the issue of Canadian charities and political activities. “Let me now turn to some of the highlights of Budget 2012…
Here are some comments from Cathy Hawara, Director General of the Charities Directorate, relating to the issue of Canadian charities and ineligible individuals rules in the 2011 Federal Budget. “Now I’d like to move on to another significant change of…
Here are some comments from Cathy Hawara, Director General of the Charities Directorate, relating to the 2011 Federal Budget provisions enhancing transparency for qualified donees (ie. those organizations who can issue official donation receipts). “The first change introduced by Budget…
Here is an opinion piece that appeared in the Toronto Sun entitled “Beware of too-good-to-be-true tax shelters”. Beware of too-good-to-be-true tax shelters
The Canadian Press article “Controversial Islamic school ordered out of Toronto public school property” raises some interesting issues. The TDSB is the largest registered charity in Canada with over $3 billion in revenue. Many people don’t know but lots of…
So much is written about legal issues relating to charities in Canada. In this article I try to distill the ten most important things you need to know about charity law in Canada. Here is an updated version of the…
I presented to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance today along with 5 other witnesses. There was a lively discussion of transparency, cross border philanthropy, tax incentives and preventing abuse of registered charities. Here is a copy of…
Imagine Canada launched today their new Standards Program. It provides accreditation to certain charities and the standards focus on certain issues such as board governance; financial accountability & transparency, ethical fundraising, staff management; and volunteer involvement. .Charities should look at…
The Canada Revenue Agency has revoked the registration of Help Eliminate Disease and Addiction Canada as a registered charity. Here is the notice from the Canada Gazette: CANADA REVENUE AGENCY INCOME TAX ACT Revocation of registration of a charity…
The Standing Committee on Finance (FINA) is holding hearings on tax incentives for charitable donations. Here is the Finance Committee: Chair – James Rajotte Vice-Chairs – Scott Brison, Peggy Nash Members Mark Adler Guy Caron Shelly Glover Randy Hoback Brian…
Here is an interesting article entitled “The worst way to judge a charity”. Notice in paragraph 3 an attack on Canada! The worst way to judge a charity Here is an excerpt: Donating to charity is a worthy action. But…
Brad Offman, Vice President, Strategic Philanthropy at Mackenzie Financial Corporation and Managing Director of the Mackenzie Charitable Giving Fund has written an interesting article entitled “Canada’s Charities Deserve Better”. Brad argues quite correctly that using one or two financial ratios…
On April 20, 2012 CRA released a new Guidance on Fundraising for Canadian registered charities. This guidance is the most important information from the Charities Directorate on the obligations of Canadian registered charities when it comes to fundraising. Here is…