The Finance Committee of the House of Commons has requested pre-budget submission be provided by August 5, 2016. If you have ideas that could help Canada be a better country you might want to make a submission. Here is the…
The CBC in an article entitled “Charity tax fraud to cost brothers their freedom” how two brothers were each sentenced to over 4 years for being involved in charity fraud over nearly $5 million. It shows how the CRA is…
The Daily Beast has a rather extensive article on Donald Trump's use of the Trump Foundation entitled Donald Trump Accused of Using His Charity as a Political Slush Fund. It is well worth reading. I have criticized the Clinton Foundation for…
CRA recently released two new online registered charity information request forms which have been created to simplify the process when requesting certain types of information from CRA. Previously this information was typically requested by sending a letter/fax to CRA. Now it can be…
The NPORIP was a major initiative of the Federal government to look at the approximately 80,000 – 100,000 organizations that are non-profits but not registered charities and the extent to which there are compliance issues. In July 2013 the CRA prepared…
The IRS recently released a report entitled “Stewards of the Public Trust: Long-Range Planning for the Future of the IRS and the Exempt Community“. The Report was prepared by the Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities (ACT), which…
It appears that Bill C-239, Ted Falk's private members bill to increase tax incentives for donations, has been defeated on second reading. Both the Liberals and NDP expressed reservations about the private members bill and its potentially high cost.…
The PBO has recently released a report entitled Cost Estimate of Bill C-239: An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (Charitable Gifts). Bill C-239 is a private members bill by MP Ted Falk to increase donation tax incentives to match…
Blumbergs and the OCIC will be hosting a program on June 21, 2016 entitled “Recent Changes to the Regulation of Charitable Activities in China that will affect Chinese and Canadian charities”. You can register here. It will feature Prof. Mark Sidel,…
I am pleased to be on a panel for AFP GTA Fundraising Day with Caroline Riseboro, Bruce MacDonald, Hilary Pearson, and Stewart Wong. The topic of the panel will be “The Time is Now: Government Relations for Canadian Charities”. Here is the…
CRA recently released a letter which discusses whether an official receipt issued for property donated in kind can include an amount less than the fair market value of the property. CRA cited section 3501 of the Income Tax Act (Canada)…
Here is our article “Total revenue received from all sources outside Canada by Canadian Registered Charities in 2014“. It provides a list of Canadian charities that received foreign income in their 2014 fiscal year. Foreign income for Canadian charities has…
Blumbergs will be holding a half-day seminar on Tuesday June 21, 2016, Fundamentals of Employment Law for Charities and Non-Profits from 1PM-4PM. You can register here.
Industry Canada has sent out notices to thousands of Canada Corporations Act (CCA) corporations warning them of their pending dissolution as they have failed to transition to the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (“CNCA”). Industry Canada wants to wind down the CCA and…
A Canadian private members bill, introduced by MP Ted Falk, would change the tax credit for donations to charities. It is called the Fairness in Charitable Gifts Act– Bill C-239. Malcolm Burrows recently wrote a very useful critique of this…
The Canada Revenue Agency ('CRA') recently published a Question and Answer piece on its website which provides information on providing assistance to people impacted by the wildfires in Alberta and information for registered charities that may have been impacted by the wildfires or would…
CRA recently released a letter which considers whether a Tribal Council should be considered a public body performing a function of government within the meaning of paragraph 149(1)(c). CRA ruled that the Tribal Council was considered to be a public body performing a…
We have previously blogged about the decision of the Tax Court of Canada in David, R. et al. v. the Queen (TCC) (here, here and here). In the previous decision of Canada v. Castro, 2015 FCA 225, the Minister appealed the decision in David v.…
Mark Blumberg will be presenting to the CPA Ontario Not-for-Profit and Charity Finance Leadership Certificate Program on June 6, 2016 on legal issues affecting the non-profit sector. Here are some details on the program: Certificate in Not-for-Profit and Charity Finance…
The Charity Commission of England and Wales has released two very interesting regulatory case reports including the Regulatory Case Report – The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust and Regulatory Case Report -The Roddick Foundation. These reports are interesting in that they discuss grants…
CRA recently released a new guidance which provides information for low-cost housing corporations for the aged which are interested in becoming Qualified Donees. The guidance replaces the Income Tax Rulings Directorate letter dated March 18, 2013. The guidance provides…
Here is a recent article written by Mark Blumberg, Kate Robertson and Lynn Gluckman of Blumberg Segal LLP on the Top Fallacies about private foundations in Canada. The article discusses incorrect misconceptions that many people have about private foundations. This article was also published as…
The Hillborn Charity eNews just published the second part of our article Top fallacies about private foundations in Canada. It discusses numerous incorrect preconceptions that people have about private foundations.
CRA has been sending out notices relating to the 2015 T3010 Registered Charity Information Return asking that a one page form entitled “New Reporting Requirement” be added to a registered charity's 2015 T3010 filing. The notice essentially asks the question “Did the charity…