CRA has announced that they will be replacing interpretation bulletins with Income Tax Folios. Sounds like boring tax stuff – but it is not. Part of the folio will be “SERIES 7 – CHARITIES AND NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS Folio 1: Charitable donations and deductions Folio 2: Non-profit organizations” Hopefully this initiative will result in more up-to-date and organized information on certain topics that are of interest to the non-profit and charity sector. The project will apparently take a number of years to fully implement. I think that the charity sector should begin a major lobbying campaign to have CRA label the Charities and Non-Proft Organizations as Series 1. After all the charity sector is the best!
Here is an announcement from CRA:
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/tchncl/ncmtx/ntrfls-eng.html
“Introducing Income Tax Folios
Income Tax Folios – A new income tax technical publication
The Canada Revenue Agency recognizes the value that Income Tax Interpretation Bulletins have for taxpayers and for tax professionals.
We have undertaken an initiative to introduce a new technical publication product to update the information currently found in the Income Tax Interpretation Bulletins and to introduce improved web functionality.
The new product will be known as the Income Tax Folios. The Income Tax Folios will be organized by subject matter into Series. Each Folio within a Series will be subdivided into topic-specific Chapters to better enable users to locate the information they need.
Phase-out of Income Tax Interpretation Bulletins and ITTNs
A Chapter of an Income Tax Folio will be an updated version of the technical content in one or more Income Tax Interpretation Bulletins. The Folios will also incorporate material currently contained in the Income Tax Technical News (ITTNs). Chapters will be published as the content has been updated. At that time, the Interpretation Bulletin or Bulletins and any ITTN updated by a Folio Chapter will be cancelled. It is expected that the update process will occur over a number of years.
Additionally, in connection with the Income Tax Folio initiative, and in order to remove redundant and outdated content from the CRA Web site, all of the archived Income Tax Interpretation Bulletins, nine of the current Income Tax Interpretation Bulletins and all archived ITTNs were cancelled, effective September 30, 2012. Please refer to Cancellation of Income Tax Technical Publications for more information.”
Here is the anticipated content of the folios:
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/tchncl/ncmtx/flndx-eng.html
“Income Tax Folios Index
Income Tax Folios will be replacing Interpretation Bulletins over the next several years as the technical content is updated. For additional information, please refer to Introducing Income Tax Folios.
Income Tax Folios are organized into seven Series:
Series 1 – Individuals
Series 2 – Employers and Employees
Series 3 – Property, Investments and Savings Plans
Series 4 – Businesses
Series 5 – International and Residency
Series 6 – Trusts
Series 7 – Charities and Non-profit Organizations
Each Series is comprised of several Folios. A Folio will contain free-standing Chapters, each of which will address specific aspects of the Folio topic.
SERIES 1 – INDIVIDUALS
Folio 1: Health & medical
Folio 2: Students
Folio 3: Family unit issues
Folio 4: Personal credits
Folio 5: Transfers of income, property or rights to third parties
Folio 6: Deceased individual
SERIES 2 – EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES
Folio 1: Specific plans offered by employers to employees
Folio 2: Deductions from employment income
Folio 3: Employment benefits
Folio 4: Information specific to particular fields of employment
SERIES 3 – PROPERTY, INVESTMENTS AND SAVINGS PLANS
Folio 1: Shares, shareholders & securities transactions
Folio 2: Dividends
Folio 3: Capital transactions
Folio 4: Capital cost allowance
Folio 5: Eligible capital property
Folio 6: Interest
Folio 7: Real estate or rental properties
Folio 8: Resource properties
Folio 9: Miscellaneous payments/receipts
Folio 10: RRSPs
Folio 11: Transfers between registered plans
SERIES 4 – BUSINESSES
Folio 1: General business concepts
Folio 2: Deducting business expenses
Folio 3: General principles of business income calculation
Folio 4: Corporations – status & structures
Folio 5: Tax deferred rollovers
Folio 6: Provisions applicable to specific corporations
Folio 7: Wind-ups, dissolutions and amalgamations
Folio 8: Losses
Folio 9: Bad debts & debt forgiveness
Folio 10: Inventory
Folio 11: Farmers
Folio 12: Contractors & construction
Folio 13: Income from professional practices
Folio 14: Income from artistic endeavours
Folio 15: Manufacturing and research & development
Folio 16: Partnerships
SERIES 5 – INTERNATIONAL AND RESIDENCY
Folio 1: Residency
Folio 2: Foreign tax credits
Folio 3: Cross-border issues
SERIES 6 – TRUSTS
Folio 1: Trusts and residency issues
Folio 2: Beneficiaries
Folio 3: Taxation of an intervivos trust and attribution
Folio 4: Testamentary trusts
SERIES 7 – CHARITIES AND NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
Folio 1: Charitable donations and deductions
Folio 2: Non-profit organizations”