It looks like the Vancouver Sun is doing another series on Blake Bromley and his use of charities. The article is entitled “Charitable donation expert says he heeds law, not CRA ‘technical rulings”. I think there are a few concerns…
The CRA issued a press release reminding Canadian taxpayers that of the “Taxpayer Relief Provisions for Canadian taxpayers affected by natural disasters outside Canada”. Canada Revenue Agency News release Taxpayer Relief Provisions for Canadian taxpayers affected by natural disasters outside…
4 class action lawsuits dealing with abusive charity gifting tax schemes have been commenced by various law firms and the defendants include a number of law firms.. Now the law firm Scarfone Hawkins LLP is looking into the possibility of…
Here is the Blumbergs Canadian Charity Law List for April 2011 – lots of interesting legal and ethical issues in the Canada charity sector and elsewhere. Blumbergs Newsletter Blumbergs Canadian Charity Law List – April 2011 Misuse of Charity Assets…
Here is a list of Canadian Charities Recently Revoked by CRA for cause -April 2011. The list also has the names of the directors of those charities. Charities that are concerned about their reputations may want to think twice before…
The update on the CNCA is that there is no update. On February 16, 2011 Marcie Girouard, Director General of Corporations Canada, and Coleen Kirby, Manager of the Policy Section, spoke in Toronto about the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations (CNCA). Coleen…
Here is a on whether a Canadian registered charity that is a public foundation can borrow money to pay for equipment to be used in charitable activities CRA advanced tax ruling in French Here is the actual CRA letter in…
The International Relief Fund for the Afflicted and Needy Canada (IRFAN-Canada) has had its registered charity status revoked for failing to keep adequate books and records of its foreign activities. They had their receipting privileges suspended last year because according…
I will be co-presenting for Canadian Association of Gift Planners Greater Toronto Area RoundTable on June 13th at 1:30 – 3:00 p.m. on “You Don’t Need to be Rich to be a Philanthropist: Making an impact with your charitable giving”…
Here are some free archived webinars – each approximately 1 hour in length on Canadian charities and foreign activities. If your charity conducts foreign activities these webinars will help in understanding some of the compliance issues. Free Archived Webinars on…
I will be presenting to The Canadian Institute’s Advanced Forum on Government Relations and Lobbying a presentation on “Charities and Lobbying: Ensuring the Sector’s Views are Heard on Funding and Policy” on June 8, 2011. This is a two day…
The Charity Law Information program has posted various videos at These videos came from a conference entitled “Being Good and Doing Good” which was held in Toronto in 2010. Here is a little blurb on the Charity Law Information…
Operation Save Canada Teenagers and Revival Time Ministries International were revoked by CRA for improper receipting, falsifying bank statements and other assorted problems. Attempts to appeal by Reverend Daniel Mokwe failed. On January 18, 2011, Operation Save Canada Teenagers and…
I have been blogging about C-470 since March of 2010 with many concerns about the process in which the bill was forwarded and the content of the bill. When this current election was called C-470 died on the order paper. …
Like many Canadians I will be watching the election. I will be blogging on whether there are implications for the charitable sector and whether any of the parties have anything particularly interesting to say about the charitable sector. Also, a…
The New York Times, in an article entitled “Madonna’s Charity Fails in Bid to Finance School”, discusses how Madonna has abandoned her efforts to build an expensive school in Malawi after investing 4 million in the prepatory work to the…
Here is an article entitled “Tax rule changes take charities by surprise” at the Globe and Mail. You can read the article at
CRA announced today that “The registration for the April 27, 2011, Charities Information Webinar is now open. This webinar will be on Non-compliance issues and how to avoid them.” You can register at Here are some other archived webinars…
In this 2004 case a BC lawyer is charged with 23 counts of tax evasion and making false or deceptive statements with respect to certain income tax returns and a complicated transaction involving charities. In this decision of the Provincial…
I had the privilege today of attending the Budget 2011 Stakeholders Lock-up. Here are the parts of the budget that relate to registered charities and other qualified donees. Also below are some of the highlights of the budget. Highlights…
Here is a CRA letter on whether naming rights for provided to a business that made a donation to a registered charity is an advantage under split receipting rules. In other words if a business has a naming opportunity is…
Here is a recent CRA letter on the clergy residence deduction which confirms in this particular case of an ordained minister working as a chaplain/spiritual care coordinator in a long term care facility that he is qualified for the clergy…
The 2011 Alberta budget has a section in it warning Albertans about abusive charitable gifting schemes that offer a person tax savings that are greater than the “investment” by the taxpayer. The government is very direct and describes these as…
The Civicus World Assembly 2011 will be held in Montreal around September 8-12, 2012. This is a great worldwide gathering of NGOs. For those interested in development as well as civil society this is a great conference to network and…