I made an access to information request of the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board (CPERB) a few years back to ask about documents relating to the use of CPERB as part of abusive charity gifting tax schemes and also…
In a decision on April 9, 2015 in the Federal court The Honourable Madam Justice Mactavish dealt with an issue of whether The International Relief Fund for the Afflicted and Needy (Canada) (“IRFAN”) could use funds to pay past and future legal…
CBC recently reported in an article “Giving Tree Foundation to be stripped of charity status: Charity that gives $2M a year to children's causes faces demise after tax review“. CBC notes “The group has a relationship with EquiGenesis Corp., a company…
In a recent Toronto Star article entitled “Critics say Fraser Institute letter highlights ‘enormous lack of clarity’ in charity-audit rules” the Toronto Star discusses a letter from the Fraser Institute to supporters. The article raises some interesting points but I…
CRA has recently released an updated Information Sheet on GST/HST Guidelines for Charities. The Information Sheet provides basic information on how the GST/HST applies to many issues commonly faced by charities and replaces the previous Information Sheet from June 2011. CRA has also released…
There have been a large number of articles discussing the transparency of the Clinton Foundation and gaps or mistakes in their filings. Here is an article from the New York Times, the Washington Post and Bloomberg News. Here is a response…
Properly issuing official donation receipts has been challenging for many registered charities. According to the CRA, 89% of registered charities that are audited are not correctly issuing official donation receipts. Issuing incorrect receipts can result in revocation or penalties. It…
Blumbergs will be holding a half-day seminar on May13, 2015, Fundamentals of Employment Law for Charities and Non-Profits from 9AM-12PM. This seminar covers the pitfalls associated with employment law that can result in costly problems for charities and not-for-profit…
As many have noted the Ontario budget was not that exciting. There is one sentence on ONCA hidden at the end of a paragraph on business modernization. “As an early priority, the government will take steps to enable the proclamation…
We have blogged about the CRA Program Update 2015 separately but wanted to focus here on what the update provides in terms of information on the political activity audits of CRA's Charities Directorate. CRA should be commended for publishing a…
Sowa v. Canada involves an alleged donation of $10,250 in 2006 by Emily Sowa. The Tax Court of Canada “doubted the truthfulness of the appellant’s claim that she donated $10,250.00.” Also the purported receipt did not contain all…
The case of Humanics Institute v. Minister of National Revenue deals with the refusal of CRA to register an organization as a charity in the category of advancement of religion. The Humanics Institute had lost in the Federal Court of Appeal and…
On March 26, 2015 Mark Blumberg was on The Agenda with Steve Paikin discussing crowdfunding. Other guests included Marina Glogovac, Caroline Riseboro, Bruce MacDonald, Daryl Hatton and Sabrina Nicosia. It was entitled “Charity Goes Viral“. The description of the program is: “Often, it starts with a…
The Canadian Charity Law Association is delivering some upcoming webinars. More information on each of these webinars and how to register is provided below: July 15th, 2015 at 12:00 PM EDT: “Should we set up a Canadian Charity and if…
Today the Federal government released its budget. There were a few items that will impact charities and non-profits in Canada. Here are the actual provisions in the 2015 Federal budget that impact charities. Here are some of the highlights of…
We have just released the Blumbergs' Snapshot of the Canadian Charity Sector 2013 as part of the Sean Blumberg Transparency Project. The database covers about 83,000 of the 86,000 registered charities in Canada that had filed their T3010 and were processed…
We prepared an article on the largest Canadian charity employers. The article is entitled “Largest Canadian Registered Charities by Employment Compensation“ There are about 2.7 million Canadians who work for Canadian registered charities. They earn approximately $122 billion per year.…
The Charities Directorate of CRA has released the Charity Program Update 2015. We will discuss the update in this note, except for the parts dealing with political activities which we will discuss here. The Charity Program Update 2015 provides some interesting…
CRA recently released a letter which discusses whether a park qualifies as a 'municipal or public body performing a function of government' in Canada within the meaning of paragraph 149 (1) (c) of the Act. CRA concluded that they would…
On October 14, 2015 the Blumbergs' Charity Law Institute will be held in Toronto. Save the date and details will follow. The cost will be $185. There will be an early bird discount available with the code EB2015 which can save…
Industry Canada is now providing as part of their ‘Monthly Transactions’ online a list of the Corporations that it intends to dissolve as a result of failing to transition to the Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (‘CNCA’). The list provides all…
The Canadian Charity Law Association is delivering some upcoming webinars. More information on each of these webinars and how to register is provided below: Apr 8th, 2015 at 12:00 PM EDT: “Fundraising Accountability and Transparency” A high level of trust…
Doug Rutzen of ICNL has published an interesting article entitled Aid Barriers and the Rise of Philanthropic Protectionism. The article is an updated version of an earlier article entitled “Regulation or Repression: Government Policing of Cross Border Charity,” Rutzen notes…
CRA recently released a letter which discusses the proper tax treatment of a post-doctoral fellowship and a travel/conference allowance received from a trust administered by a registered charity. CRA had the following comments: An amount received by a post-doctoral fellow…