The Ontario government has published an ONCA draft organizational by-law. Here is a link: Here is a blurb from the Ontario government: “Introduction This is a default by-law under section 18 of the Ontario not-for-profit corporations act, 2010 and…
On April 18, 2013 we will have the first Blumbergs’ Charity Law Boot Camp in Toronto. It will be a one day boot camp on compliance and standards issues for Canadian charities led by charity lawyer Mark Blumberg. Overview: This…
The CRA has provided more information on the provision in the 2013 Federal Budget dealing with taxes in dispute and abusive charity gifting tax shelters. Here is a link to the CRA page and the text below: “Taxes in…
In the 2013 Federal Budget there was a small tax incentive for first time charitable donors called the “First-Time Donor’s Super Credit”. CRA has provided additional information on the administration of this small tax incentive for giving. Here is a…
I wish it was an April Fool’s joke but unfortunately there are still Canadians investing in the ‘abusive charity gifting tax schemes’. The Globe and Mail had an article today by Paul Waldie discussing “New Canada Revenue rules target charitable…
In an article today in the Globe & Mail entitled “Canada Revenue Agency struggling to put a lid on tax fraud” Kathryn Blaze Carlson discusses false receipting schemes. Here is a link to the article: Here is a link to…
The following text is from the Ontario government website: “ONCA is targeted to come into effect no earlier than January, 2014. Existing not-for-profit corporations will have a three-year transition period once ONCA is in effect. Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO)…
The Federal Government has announced in the 2013 Federal Budget that the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) will be amalgamated with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) to form the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development. …
On March 21, 2013 at 4pm, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty delivered the 2013 Canadian federal budget. There were a number of interesting proposals relating to charities. Some of the highlights include a new temporary First-Time Donor’s Super Credit (FDSC) designed…
Jeff Gray of the Globe and Mail is reporting today in an article “Tax-scheme case revived against Bay Street law firm” that the class action lawsuit against Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP has been certified by a decision of the…
The Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency has announced the revocation of Marketplace Ministries International as a registered charity for its involvement in the “Insured Giving Donation Program tax shelter gifting arrangement”. Here is the CRA press release: …
CRA has provided some comments on registered charities and political activities. We have consolidated these various articles into one document. CRA information on registered charities and political activities.pdf [Update – CRA has created a new space on their website with…
The CRA has two upcoming Charities Information Webinars being offered in the month of March. Upcoming webinar topics include Completing Form T3010 (13), Registered Charity Information Return, and Arts Activities and Charitable Registration (Guidance CG-018). In order to register for…
In January, CRA released a revised T4033 Guide which we blogged on earlier, which assists Canadian registered charities with completing the Registered Charity Information Return.. Now they have slightly revised the T4033 again. The most recent version of the guide…
In The World Job and Food Bank Inc. (WJFB) CRA revoked the registered charity’s registration for 3 reasons namely “WJFB failed to demonstrate that it devotes all of its resources to charitable activities carried on by itself, it failed to…
Andy Levy-Ajzenkopf recently posted an article on Charity Village providing some comments and information regarding the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA). Here is a link to the Charity Village article on the ONCA:
CRA recently released a letter which discussed whether a Corporation qualified for tax exemption when it held a reserve. In this case, the Corporation was receiving funds as a result of a funding agreement and could only expend them for…
CRA recently released a letter that discussed the tax implications of an entity that distributes revenue to its members from the sale of auction items. CRA stated, “With respect to the sale of auction items, it is not clear to…
Here is a CRA press release on a Brampton tax preparer sentenced after “A CRA investigation discovered that false charitable donation claims totalling $858,897 were made on 129 income tax returns prepared by Mr. Adebukunola for clients for the 2004…
Almost $15 billion is sent by people in Canada to developing world countries as remittances. Over the years I have written quite a bit about remittances, how important they are; how they dwarf charitable funds in Canadian charities used for…
Statistics Canada has recently released donor information for 2011. Every year Stats Can puts out this information and people write about it. Stats Can notes: “Charitable donations reported by taxfilers increased 2.6% from 2010 to just under $8.5 billion in…
On June 5, 2013, Trevor Clark and myself will be delivering the “Planned Giving Institute” for AFP Toronto’s Fundraising Day. Here is a brief description of the 3 hour presentation: Planned Giving Institute: Program and Development Wednesday, June 5, 2013…
I will be speaking at an upcoming Ontario Bar Association conference on April 8, 2013 dealing with “Not-for-Profit and Charitable Organizations in the Health Sector: Evolving Governance & Compliance Issues”. My topic will be: “Tax issues – Canada Revenue Agency’s…
We recently reviewed the T3010 Registered Charity Information Return database for 2011 as part of the Sean Blumberg Transparency Project. The database covers 82,000 of the 86,000 registered charities in Canada that had filed their T3010 and were processed into…