Charities do millions of transactions every year. When is a transaction with, for example, an individual or for-profit corporation appropriate, and when is it an undue benefit? CRA recently, in a revocation letter, had a very good summary of…
On August 14, 2024 the CJN released a podcast entitled “JNF Canada ‘blindsided’ after Ottawa fully revokes charity status. What’s next?” “On today’s episode of The CJN Daily, we ask Mark Blumberg, a Canadian tax lawyer and charity expert, whether JNF…
Jewish National Fund of Canada is a Canadian registered charity. They advised today that the CRA has decided to revoke their registered charity status and they were appealing to the Federal Court of Appeal. None of the CRA letters have…
We have discussed before how Mr. Justice Markus Koehnen dismissed the Muslim Association of Canada’s lawsuit against the Canada Revenue Agency previously: Ontario judge dismisses case by Muslim Association of Canada which had challenged the CRA’s audit of that organization…
Here is our note: Which Canadian charities spent money on foreign activities in 2022 and how much did they spend? Canadian registered charities spent over $4.6 billion in 2022 (3.8B in 2021) on direct foreign activities (not including gifts to qualified…
The government of Canada announced today that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is now a listed terrorist entity under Canadian law. Previously, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force had been listed as of 2012. Here is information…
The CRA has reminded charities that they can engage in foreign activities, but there are rules regarding how such activities are carried out. For some in the sector, this note may seem obvious, but there is a lot of confusion…
I recently read an interesting article on the “Regulation of Foreign Funding of Nonprofits in a Democracy” by Nick Robinson. The article provides lots of ideas as to how one can think about the complicated area of how much regulation…
The CRA has released an updated or “finalized” version of Guidance CG-032, Registered charities making grants to non-qualified donees (PDF)) today. As with all CRA guidance, it is subject to review and changes. We will be writing about and presenting…
Here is a presentation delivered by Mark Blumberg for CharityVillage on October 19, 2023. Top Ten Compliance Issues for Canadian Registered Charities Summary: A great deal has been written about legal compliance surrounding charities in Canada. Much of that material, however,…
We have received several inquiries about whether Canadian charities and non-profits can continue working with nongovernmental organizations (NGO)s in India in light of recent heightened enforcement of Indian laws that regulate charitable funding coming into the country from foreign sources.…
There is a Global News story that came out today, October 13, 2023, by Stewart Bell, an investigative journalist, “Auditors allege Canadian charity helped Hamas financier“. It deals with a lengthy CRA letter to the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC),…
Just a reminder that as CRA notes in its guidance on foreign activities: “Under Canadian law, most activities that are charitable in Canada are also charitable abroad. However, the courts have stated that some activities that are charitable in Canada…
Just a reminder that Canadian charities are not allowed to support terrorism. Doesn’t matter whether you are Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Jewish or secular. If you’re a Canadian charity and, you are supporting terrorism, you can expect to be revoked,…
It was reported in the media that a number of aid workers have recently been arrested in Afghanistan. Here is the article “18 Charity Workers Arrested In Afghanistan For Allegedly Preaching Christianity.” 18 Charity Workers Arrested In Afghanistan For Allegedly…
The UK has far better transparency when it comes to charities than we have in Canada. It is interesting to read a report by the Charity Commission on England and Wales into a charity – Care4Calais. As we know, in…
The CRA recently sent a response to the Canadian Tax Foundation on the new qualifying disbursement/grant to grantee and directed donations provisions. As many are aware, section 168(1)(f) of the ITA was amended to provide that CRA can revoke a…
Here is an updated Canadian Charity Legal Checklist by Mark Blumberg – July 2023. It is a checklist for Canadian registered charities to assist them with managing compliance issues. We use it as part of our informal risk reviews for…
I will be presenting a webinar for Charity Village on October 19, 2023 on Top 10 Compliance Issues for Canadian Charities. Here is a blurb: Top 10 Compliance Issues for Canadian Charities A great deal has been written about legal…
This two-part course will be on Tuesday, August 15 and Wednesday, August 16, 2023. Both sessions will be from 12:00 – 4:00 PM EST. You can register here: Fundamentals of Running a Canadian Charitable Organization/Operating Charity – Online There are…
We recently updated our course titled Fundamentals of Running a Private or Public Foundation in Canada. This seven-hour course focuses on compliance issues with an emphasis on those specifically relevant to running a private or public foundation that is a…
This CRA letter explains the CRA’s view on Paragraph 7 of Article XXI of the Canada-U.S. Treaty and why the treaty does not make US 501(c)(3) organizations into “qualified donees”. For registered charities in Canada, the CRA’s views are important.…
Here is a letter from CRA dealing with a charity that provides a municipality (qualified donee) with funds. Depending on how the funds are provided, they may not be recognized as a gift under the ITA. With the changes in…
There is horrible news coming out of Kenya where a Christian religious cult told followers they would go to heaven if they starved themselves to death. About 89 bodies have so far been recovered. While this particular event may be…