The CRA has released a list of RCAAAs revoked for various reasons including for cause, failure to file their annual return, or voluntary revocation. According to CRA here is the list of revoked RCAAAs. Revoked Associations that have been…
The CRA has published a list of registered Canadian amateur athletic associations (RCAAAs). Very interesting to see the names of RCAAAs and also those that were deregistered over the last few years. There are currently about 119 RCAAAs. CRA was…
The 2011 Federal Budget received Royal Assent on December 16, 2011. There were a number of changes that affect charities, RCAAAs and other types of qualified donees that were in the budget. Here is a copy of the press release…
Here is an interesting article on transparency in the Chinese charitable sector. “Charities will lose public credibility without transparency,” said one researcher. It is interesting to note that in one scandal involving the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC), the…
Here is a great piece by Katherine Van Kooy in the Calgary Herald entitled ‘Charity rankings often don’t tell the full story’. Katherine van Kooy is the president and CEO of the Calgary Chamber of Voluntary Organizations (CCVO). Recently,…
Here is the CRA’s Annual Report to Parliament for 2010-2011. It is 173 pages long. There are a number of references to charities which I have reproduced below. “ADMINISTERING TAX The taxes that the CRA levies and the credits it…
Scarfone Hawkins LLP has announced that a there is a settlement of the Banyan Tree class action lawsuit, subject to court approval. On their website they state: “Settlement of Action This action has been settled. The settlement is subject to…
It is the time of year that many are thinking about and giving to charity. The Federal government sent out a press release stating “We encourage Canadians to donate generously but also to do their homework to ensure that the…
Here is a list of Canadian registered charities revoked over the last five years by CRA for cause. This list updates to previous lists and now includes the last five years.
In Sarsonas v. The Queen, 2011 TCC 559 (December 8, 2011) Sheridan J. delivers a decision on a claim by Mr. Sarsonas that he donated thousands of dollars to charity. Sheridan J. describes in detail a scheme in which some…
The CRA just put out a press release entitled “The Canada Revenue Agency revokes the charitable status of the Canadian Foundation for Tamil Refugee Rehabilitation”. The Canada Revenue Agency revokes the charitable status of the Canadian Foundation for Tamil…
Here are the CRA’s “Program areas and field codes” for the T3010 Registered Charity Information Return and the TF725 Registered Charity Basic Information Sheet (BIS). These codes are needed when you are completing the T3010. As well they are useful…
The new Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (CNCA) is in force as of October 17, 2011. Industry Canada has placed hundreds of pages of information on the new act on their website in over 70 different documents. We have tried to…
In Lipson v. Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP, 2011 ONSC 6724, Perell J. of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in a well written and fascinating judgement dismissed the Lipson class action claim against Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP as…
Charity Central, based in Edmonton, has released a series of resources entitled Road to Accountability to help Canadian charities deal with the issues of accountability and transparency. Here is a description from the their website: “Road to Accountability, a project…
The US Chronicle of Philanthropy has written an article entitled “Controversy Over Drug Values at Aid Groups: A Look at a Key Player” – it has some discussion on valuation schemes in the Canadian context. Here is the Chronicle of…
David Baines of the Vancouver Sun just wrote an article dealing with the VIA Project entitled “Ontario company pitching controversial charitable donation scheme in Victoria: Canada Revenue Agency has disallowed similar ‘buy low, donate high’ schemes” Here is a link…
The CRA has just released another letter on the issue of whether a non-profit that is not a registered charity qualifies as a non-profit as opposed to being a for-profit taxable entity. This letter covers “Does a Hall Charities Association…
I recently gave a presentation to the Law Society of Upper Canada’s 14th Annual Estate and Trust Summit providing the Charity Law Update. Here is a copy of my slides. Here is a copy of my paper Charity Law Update…
Today the Toronto Star posted an article entitled “Audit of charities encounters resistance”. I think that it is very important that there be transparency about charities and I have written quite a bit on the subject. Charities must be transparent…
The Toronto Star has written about a Canadian charity named HEDAC in an article entitled “Toronto charity goes from zero to $60M in a year” Toronto charity goes from zero to $60M in a year November 16, 2011 10:11:00…
Another Canadian charity has been revoked involvement with “abusive charity gifting tax shelters”. [Update] Here is a copy of various letters from CRA to The Malvern Rouge Valley Youth Services. November 15, 2011 10:39 ET The Canada Revenue Agency…
Here is a program we are putting on entitled “Trends in U.S.-based Global Grantmaking” with Andrew Ho of the US Council on Foundations. [update below] Trends in U.S.-based Global Grantmaking Charitable foundations and philanthropists in the United States are increasingly…
It seems that the Australians are also suffering from some of the tax schemes that have plagued Canada. The Australian Tax Office notes “Examples of tax schemes Tax schemes often involve a series of complex transactions. They may also involve…