Here is a UK Charity Commission report on the “International Tiger Moth Charitable Trust” which took “sick and terminally ill children in a Second World War Tiger Moth aeroplane”. It is interesting because it shows how having a board of…
On December 6 2010 the Standing Committee on Finance held hearings on C-470 and whether there should be salary caps on charities in Canada. Here is the minutes of meeting http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=4856234&Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=1 “MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS Meeting No. 51 Monday, December 6,…
Here is a copy of 2010 paper “The Nuts and Bolts of Gifts involving Cultural Property” by Florence I. Carey of Aikins, MacAulay & Thorvaldson LLP in Winnipeg. Additionally here is a copy of Florence Carey’s powerpoint slides for the…
A while ago, I got a call from Australia. An investment advisor was wondering about certain Canadian individuals involved with what he thought were some pretty risky charity gifting tax shelter schemes in Australia. Anyway, I just read an Aggressive…
I have expressed on a number of occasions my numerous concerns with Bill C-470 – a private members bill which involves salary caps for registered charities as well as salary disclosures of the top 5 executives or employees of a…
Here is an interesting presentation by Ken Goodman entitled Fiduciary Considerations Involving Charitable Property There are a number of very good slides including a comparison of the requirements under the Income Tax Act and as a fiduciary or trustee of…
I recently saw a great presentation on books and records from Teresa Douma, Senior Director, Legal Services for the Canadian Council of Christian Charities Here is the slide deck For more information on free resources from the CCCC see
Malcolm Burrows recently wrote a very thoughtful article for the September 2010 edition of Gift Planning in Canada on C-470, the private members bill to cap salaries at registered charities and to force charities to disclose salary information on the…
This case deals with sentencing of a lawyer, Mr. Viccars, for facilitating a tax evasion scheme dealing with tax write offs for computer software. It has nothing to do with charities or non-profits but it is interesting to read the…
The decision is quite concise and well worth reading for the ever decreasing number of people in Canada who still believe that you can take part in a tax shelter gifting arrangement and make money off a donation to a…
Here is a copy of a presentation I have given on CRA’s Foreign Activity Guidance. It has been delivered in Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa over the last couple of months. If groups are interested in trying to arrange such a…
Join me on a “Charity Chat” on Friday, December 3, 2010 12:00 pm (midday) when I discuss “Questions About the Fundraising Guidance”. The Charity Chats are a series of informal online discussions about legal issues affecting charities put on by…
Here is a copy of the Blumbergs Canadian Charity Law List newsletter for October 2010. Blumbergs Newsletter Blumbergs Canadian Charity Law List – October 2010 1) Upcoming Charity Law Seminars across Canada with Mark Blumberg or CLIP It is important…
Here is an interesting article by Kevin Donovan of the Toronto Star entitled “Charity boss hires own firm to fundraise” in which he describes some of the dealings at the Oshawa Hospital Foundation. There is also a response by the…
I am going to be involved with a number of informal “Charity Chats” over the next few months. The first one is going to be on “Media Coverage of Charities and Fundraising Rules”. The description is “The media has recently…
Here is a Pre-Budget Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance entitled “Canadians demand more transparency in non-profit and charitable sector” by Blumberg Segal LLP. For more information on transparency and the Canadian charitable sector see www.globalphilanthropy.ca…
If you are a bit greedy and thinking of investing in charity gifting tax shelters here is a good article in the Winnipeg Free Press by David Christianson that is worth reading entitled “Make sure tax shelter doesn’t break CRA…
Here is an excerpt from an article entitled “Debunking Charity Salary Myths” from the American Institute of Philanthropy. This article is particularly relevant to the discussions in Canada about what is appropriate compensation for non-profit employees and Bill C-470. The…
An article appeared in the Edmonton Journal October 4, 2010 entitled “Charity tax-avoidance scheme entices many: Those trying to save money with such shelters are ‘damn fools’: lawyer”. The article refers to “slick” promoters “Participants are lured by the…
I will be presenting at the 4th Annual Risk Mitigation & Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Africa and Emerging Markets conference in Toronto. My topic will be “Selecting and Working with Canadian Charities as CSR Partners”. Here is the 4th…
Recently the Canadian government announced changes to the Lobbying Act to include “all members of Parliament, senators and senior staff in the offices of the Leader of the Opposition, both in the House of Commons and the Senate” as designated…
It is interesting that Paul Waldie’s article entitled “Gifting tax audits ensnare 170,000 Canadians” was this week’s most read story at reportonbusiness.com It is well worth reading. The comments afterward are the normal i.e. everything from interesting to outrageous. This…
I will be delivering some workshops on the new CRA guidance on foreign activities by Canadian charities in Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg. Calgary Here is the CALGARY FLYER for foreign activities and Registration Information Edmonton Here is the EDMONTON…
On September 15, 2010 I appeared on the Lang & O’Leary Exchange to discuss charity gifting tax shelters and the ongoing CRA crackdown. Here is the link and the segment appears at about 46:08 to 52:01: http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/Money/Lang_&_O’Leary_Exchange/1319430780/ID=1592351530 http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/Money/Lang_&_O’Leary_Exchange/ID=1592351530 Kevin O’Leary…