Here is a new checklist from Blumbergs that will assist Canadian registered charities either interested or currently conducting foreign activities. It is called Canadian Charity Foreign Activity Legal Checklist – Working with Foreign Charities or Intermediaries 2017. Some other resources that…
Canada has an unusually generous system in which foreign universities that have a couple of Canadian students studying there can obtain the equivalent of Canadian registered charity status with almost none of the obligations. Here is an article describing that…
The Charity Commission of England and Wales has released a guidance Grant funding an organisation that isn’t a charity. It sets certain standards when an English charity provides a grant to a group that is not a charity such as a…
CRA recently released a letter that discusses whether a transfer of property by a corporation to its shareholder that is a private foundation is a gift for purposes of section 38(a.1) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) such that the taxable capital…
An interesting new report from The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) as well as the Australian Transactions Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) published on August 28, 2017 looked at “the risk of money laundering and terrorism financing in the not-for-profit sector, key vulnerabilities and…
The New York Times recently had an article Canada Debates Whether Gift of Leibovitz Photos Is Also a Tax Dodge which discusses a donation of photographs taken by Annie Leibovitz. There was also coverage in the CBC, another CBC and Toronto Star.…
Global News recently had coverage entitled “Government revokes group’s charity status, audit cites possible funding of Pakistani militants” which discusses two recent revocations of Canadian charities. The revocations also seem to be news in India. Here is an article and…
The Canadian Charity Law Association (CCLA) is pleased to present: Charities, Regulation and Donors – some international perspectives on June 22, 2017 at 8:30AM in Toronto. The 1/2 day program will cover 4 thought provoking topics (see bios below) and…
There are over 294,000 records of Canadian charities gifting to qualified donees in total (both within and outside of Canada). We reviewed the list and have compiled a list of gifts over $1.3 million to foreign qualified donees only for…
Here is a article “Largest Gifts from Canadian Charities to other Qualified Donees for 2015” with a list of all gifts over $1,000,000 from the 2015 T3010 Registered Charity Information Returns from one registered charity to another qualified donee.
We are pleased to announce the Blumbergs' Canadian Charity Law Institute 2017 will be on Monday October 16, 2017. Further details will follow. Registration and early bird information is here.
Here is our article “Which Canadian charities spent money on foreign activities in 2015 and how much did they spend?”
On the CRA database it has become apparent that CRA has recently revoked the charitable status of two religious organizations that conduct significant foreign activities. We have put in a request to CRA for information on why they were revoked.…
Carleton University has a Master of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership (MPNL). They do some very interesting programs relating to the non-profit and charity sector. On April 28, 2017 they will be holding a one day program entitled The Future of Charity…
Canada has a mechanism to recognize certain foreign universities for purposes of donations. It is probably the most generous tax incentive system of any country in the world. Essentially if you are a degree granting university outside of Canada and…
We have just released our Blumbergs' Canadian Charity Sector Snapshot 2015. Lots of interesting statistics and information on the Canadian charity sector. As well if you want information on individual charities or want to sort charities based on about 20 criteria checkout…
This recent article in The Guardian entitled Charity regulator to crack down on political advocacy after complaints discusses how the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) has cracked down on certain political activities by charities in Australia and how the ACNC is asking…
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and National Association of State Charities Officials (NASCO) are organizing a conference called “Give & Take: Consumers, Contributions, and Charity” on Tuesday March 21, 2017. It will be in Washington but it will be…
A number of Canadian charities have been revoked by CRA for supporting terrorism in addition to other concerns. One of those organizations was The International Relief Fund for the Afflicted and Needy (Canada) or IRFAN Canada. It lost its charitable status…
The Charity Commission of England and Wales has provided some useful information on the dangers of using cash couriers for implementing local and foreign activities. Here is the alert: Commission and police strongly advise charities against the use of…
The Charity Commission of England and Wales recently released an Inquiry Report on a UK charity that identified concerns with fundraising and foreign activities. There were a number of concerns raised but perhaps most interesting is the discussion around due…
CRA recently updated their guidance with respect to becoming a prescribed university outside of Canada. There are about 600 foreign prescribed universities and they can issue official donation receipts similar to a Canadian registered charity. The updated CRA publication (RC…
The Charity Commission has released a case report that deals with political activities of a UK charity and also its funding of a non-charity. This case report is interesting from a Canadian perspective as there have been people in Canada…
On Sunday January 29, 2017 there was a terrible tragedy in Quebec City. A right-wing terrorist massacred six people praying at the Centre Culturel Islamique de Québec and injured almost 20 others. This is the worst terrorist attack in Canada in over 25 years. It's hard…