Ontario tax litigator, Natalie Worsfold, has an interesting blog called “Trouble with Taxes”. She has a page on the GLGI gifting arrangement. Of particular note is the lengthy PDF of court documents. To see the blog go to: For…
The CRA has revoked for cause “Word of Christ Ministry” and “Hope Church of God Deliverance Ministries” for involvement in promoted charity schemes. The Canada Revenue Agency revokes the registration of Word of Christ Ministry as a charity The…
On January 23, 2012 the National Post published an article entitled “Judge OKs suit against charity tax ‘scheme’” by Joseph Brean which discusses a class action lawsuit against various parties relating to the “Donations for Canada Gift Program”. Here is…
[Update – We are delighted to have over 65 people/organizations attend the webinar “Successfully Funding First Nations Communities in Canada in Compliance with CRA Guidance” Here is an archived version of the presentation: https://ocsa.webex.com/ocsa/lsr.php?AT=pb&SP=TC&rID=8543797&act=pb&rKey=7ae8d62d96563d62 Also here is a shortlink…
The first class action lawsuit involving what CRA terms an “abusive charity gifting tax scheme” has settled at a Settlement and Class Counsel Fee Approval Hearing that was held on January 17, 2012 in Toronto. The material for that hearing…
Ken Berger, the President & Chief Executive Officer, of the US charity watch dog group Charity Navigator will speaking at the CLIP conference “Being Good at Doing Good” on the subject of “The Battle for Transparency in the Non-Profit Sector”.…
Lois G. Lerner, the Director of the Exempt Organizations Division of the Internal Revenue Service will be speaking at the Charity Law Information Program (CLIP) Conference “Being Good at Doing Good” in Toronto, which is taking place on February 13…
The Toronto Star’s Investigative Reporter Kevin Donovan, who frequently covers the charitable sector, will be presenting at the Charity Law Information Program (CLIP) conference “Being Good at Doing Good”. Increasingly the media has been focusing on charities and certain hot…
There has been a little political firestorm last week over US foundations funding of certain Canadian environmental charities. So how much revenue actually comes to Canada from foreign countries including the US? The answer seems to be about $831 million. …
There has been a little political firestorm last week over US foundations funding of certain Canadian environmental charities. So how much revenue actually comes to Canada from foreign countries including the US? The answer seems to be about $831 million. …
Charities must have exclusively charitable purposes. They cannot have political purposes. Purposes are the legal objects of the charity. Here is an excerpt from CRA Guidance on Political Activities – CPS-022 “4. The difference between political purposes and charitable purposes…
Charities can lose their registered charity status if they do more than 10% political work. In fact this would be rare. CRA generally takes an “education first” approach and depending on the seriousness of the non-compliance and the charity’s willingness…
Yes charities can transfer funds to other organizations for allowable political activities and depending on whether the other organization is a qualified donee (eg. a registered charity) or not makes a difference. Also the recent 2012 Budget will impact on…
The simple answer for most charities is 10% of resources (which includes money, volunteers etc). However, smaller charities may be able to spend more and charities that have not done political in previous years may be able to spend more…
Canadian charities can spend resources on charitable activities, political activities, fundraising activities, administration and other (eg. social). Except for charitable activities their are restrictions and limitations on how much a Canadian charity can do. Some activities which involve political elements…
Canadian charities are not allowed to participate in either illegal or partisan political activities. Here is an excerpt from CRA Guidance on Political Activities – CPS-022 “6.1 What are prohibited activities? A charity may not take part in an illegal…
Here are some examples of prohibited political activities. Charities are prohibited from being involved in prohibited political activities. Here is an excerpt from CRA Guidance on Political Activities – CPS-022 “In the following hypothetical examples, the charity involved is called…
Charities are allowed to conduct “permitted” political activities and here are some examples from the CRA Guidance on Political Activities – CPS-022. “In the following hypothetical examples, the charity involved is called Healthy Retirement and was formed to promote the…
Canadian charities often do not understand what is “political activities”. Many think that political activities is either partisan activities or abusive mud slinging. In fact many charities don’t understand the broad scope of political activities as understood by CRA and…
Here is some guidance from the CRA on activities which they will consider to be part of the charitable activities of a registered charity. Here is an excerpt from CRA Guidance on Political Activities – CPS-022 “In the following hypothetical…
An activity by a registered charity could be charitable if you are helping people “make an informed and critical choice” and it could be propaganda if you are trying to indoctrinate people into a particular viewpoint. Here is an excerpt…
In some case CRA accepts that communication to the public or public awareness campaigns may be considered charitable and not political. Here is an excerpt from CRA Guidance on Political Activities – CPS-022 7. When is communication a charitable activity?…
As with all charity activities it is important that charities maintain adequate books and records of their political activities. Such books and records should be maintained in Canada and preferably in either English or French. Here is an excerpt from…
Canadian charities that are involved with political activities must note that on their T3010 forms. Here is an excerpt from CRA Guidance on Political Activities – CPS-022 “13. What are the filing requirements? All registered charities must complete and file…