The Honourable Jean-Pierre Blackburn announces an investment of $3.1 million to assist small and rural charities understand their legal and compliance requirements
With the difficult economic times and many charities and foundations feeling the pinch CRA has probably received many more inquiries about disbursement quota issues. This brief policy will clarify some of the concerns and explains when CRA may grant some relief from the disbursement quota requirement. The original policy can be found at: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/chrts/plcy/cpc/cpc-029-eng.html
My article was reprinted in the Canadian Fundraising & Philanthropy eNEWS at http://www.canadianfundraiser.com//newsletter/article.asp?ArticleID=2930&ClientID=13785 Of course they cleaned up the grammar and logic!
The Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) recently dealt with a case called The Millennium Charitable Foundation (The Millennium Charitable Foundation vs. MNR 2008 FCA 414). In The Millennium Charitable Foundation case the law firm of Miller Thomson LLP, which represented the Foundation, apparently stated or inferred that the Foundation was a “legitimate charity”. I am not sure exactly what a “legitimate” charity is, it certainly is not a defined term in the Income Tax Act, but I think it is worth considering whether The Millennium Charitable Foundation is a “legitimate charity”.
I am a lawyer and not an accountant. Like most lawyers numbers scare me. After all if we could deal with blood and we would be doctors and if we could add and subtract we would probably want to be accountants. As much as we lawyers may want to be in denial we know that non-profits and charities need to understand their financial and accounting situation just as they need to understand their legal obligations. Frequently I run into non-profits who have no idea what they need to do. So here are some links that may be helpful in understanding a Canadian non-profit or charity’s financial obligations. By the way I have no idea if these guys know what they are talking about because I am hiding under my computer desk afraid that these books will bite.
The Canadian Bar Association and Ontario Bar Association Charity and Not-for-Profit Law Sections and the Continuing Legal Education Committee are presenting the 2009 National Charity Law Symposium. You can come and hear me speak about what’s new with foreign activities by Canadian charities. It is on Thursday, May 7, 2009. Here is the brochure for the 2009 National Charity Law Symposium
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If you require legal advice with respect to Canadian or Ontario non-profits or charities please contact Mark Blumberg at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or at 416-361-1982 x237 www.canadiancharitylaw.ca