The Ontario government is moving to pass the Cutting Unnecessary Red Tape Act, 2017. The Act does many things but importantly for Ontario non-profits “The proposed amendments would enable the future proclamation of the Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA). The proposed amendments…
CRA has just published a lengthy page on Personal information of directors, trustees and like officials that discusses how the Charities Directorate uses personal information provided in a charity application and in your registered charity's annual filings. Here are the top 10…
The CRA has reminded B.C. Societies to make the necessary transition under new B.C. Societies Act by the BC deadline of November 28, 2018 or face dissolution of their society. As CRA notes “If your corporate status is dissolved, you are…
The CRA has published its Guidance CG-028 Head bodies and their internal divisions on September 22, 2017. It discusses what is a head body and what is an internal division and what CRA will require for registration as a charity. This guidance…
The CRA has updated its Guidance CG-014, Community economic development activities and charitable registration to discuss the topic of whether a charity can help small businesses in a disaster and to what extent. As we have had and will continue…
Although the CRA has little guidance on internal controls, they are increasingly focusing on internal controls, or the lack thereof, in charities. Internal controls are “a procedure or policy put in place by management to safeguard assets, promote accountability, increase efficiency,…
CRA recently released a letter that discusses whether a transfer of property by a corporation to its shareholder that is a private foundation is a gift for purposes of section 38(a.1) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) such that the taxable capital…
The Canada Revenue Agency recently released its views on when the adjusted cost base of a life insurance policy may be used to determine the cost of a life insurance policy when a life insurance policy is gifted to a…
An interesting new report from The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) as well as the Australian Transactions Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) published on August 28, 2017 looked at “the risk of money laundering and terrorism financing in the not-for-profit sector, key vulnerabilities and…
Here is Blumbergs' comments on the Ontario Government Proposal to Allow Compensation of Directors of Charities Without Court Order that were submitted to the Ministry of the Attorney General today.
Here is information on the position. Here is the text of the job listing https://www.indeed.ca/cmp/Blumberg-Segal-LLP/jobs/Associate-Lawyer-d4ccc44389cd3344?q=lawyer+charity Associate Lawyer – Charity and Non-Profit Blumberg Segal LLP is a small law firm in downtown Toronto focusing on charity/non-profit law, corporate law and litigation.…
CRA has been encouraging charities to file their T3010 and now they are trying something new – automated phone calls. A recent communication from CRA states: The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has started making automated courtesy calls notifying registered…
CRA has recently announced that starting in late 2018, registered charities will be able to file their annual Form T3010, Registered Charity Information Return online through the Canada Revenue Agency’s My Business Account (MyBA). Currently the T3010 form must be printed and…
When was the last time your Canadian registered charity reviewed its legal objects? Some employees and even directors of a Canadian registered charity have never even seen their legal objects! Some think that their mission statement on their website is…
When it comes to charity regulation Canada and the United States have different rules. In Canada, every year a Canadian registered charity must file a T3010 Registered Charity Information Return. In the US, a 501(c)(3) organization, in some cases, must file a Form 990 Return…
The charity sector has about 2.5 million employees. In some organizations there is high turnover. That means at any point in time there are hundreds of thousands of people thinking about finding a job in the charitable sector. At Blumbergs,…
We were recently informed by the CRA Charities Directorate that the generic CRA email address previously provided for certain communications with CRA is no longer available. Regular communications with CRA should continue being completed through mail, courier or fax. Our previous…
The CRA has included a lengthy privacy statement in its T3010 after the certification and before the “checklist”. This was not included in the 2016 return. Hidden and barely noticeable within the text is “Incomplete or inaccurate information may result in…
CRA has recently released two new videos as part of their Gifting and Receipting video series. These videos are as follows: Auctions: when you can issue donation receipts and Auctions: advantage and 80% rule. The CRA videos can be…
You can subscribe to the Blumbergs' Charity Law List here. It is a great way for directors and staff of non-profits and charities to keep on top of developments affecting the non-profit and charity sector.
Here is a recent Charity Village article by Andy Levy-Ajzenkopf entitled Setting a new tone: The newly released report on the political activities of charities. The article discusses The Report of the Consultation Panel on the Political Activities of Charities and…
The New York Times recently had an article Canada Debates Whether Gift of Leibovitz Photos Is Also a Tax Dodge which discusses a donation of photographs taken by Annie Leibovitz. There was also coverage in the CBC, another CBC and Toronto Star.…
Global News recently had coverage entitled “Government revokes group’s charity status, audit cites possible funding of Pakistani militants” which discusses two recent revocations of Canadian charities. The revocations also seem to be news in India. Here is an article and…
The Ontario Government is looking at adding a regulation to the Charities Accounting Act that would allow in certain circumstances compensation for directors without specific legislation or court order. “The regulation would authorize incorporated charities to pay their directors and…