June 29, 2010
Industry Canada last week released draft regulations for the CNCA, the new Federal non-profit act. There is also a “Notice from the Director — Consultation on proposed Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Regulations” dated June 25, 2010 which contains an explanatory note and a “Consultation on proposed Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Regulations”. Industry Canada is launching a consultation on proposed
regulations under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act. Industry Canada has requested that comments on the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (CNCA) be submitted by October 1, 2010.
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June 28, 2010
Posted by Mark Blumberg on 06/28 |
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Canadian Charity Law
I will be leading two new workshops for the Charity Law Information Program (CLIP) on two hot legal issues - Fundraising Compliance and Appropriate Receipting. One can attend them both, plus a networking lunch, for $50, or each workshop is $25. Many thanks to Canada Revenue Agency for supporting this initiative as part of its Charities Partnership and Outreach Program (CPOP). The workshop takes place July 5, 2010 in Toronto. The brochure is here http://tinyurl.com/2aeaddm (for information on a similar workshop in Ottawa see http://capacitybuilders.ca/files/resources/July_8_Brochure_-_Mark_-_United_Way_Ottawa_1277220137.pdf )
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June 23, 2010
Posted by Mark Blumberg on 06/23 |
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Canadian Charity Law
Here is a copy of my article “How Much Should A Canadian Charity Spend on Overhead?” which was just published in the Canadian Donor’s Guide. Here is a copy of the article:
http://www.globalphilanthropy.ca/images/uploads/How_Much_Should_A_Canadian_Charity_Spend_on_Overhead_in_The_Canadian_Donor_Guide.pdf
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June 21, 2010
The US-based Hudson Institute has released its 2010 Index of Global Philanthropy and Remittances. It contains lots of statistics about official development assistance (ODA), international philanthropy and remittances. On the plus side if you add ODA, international philanthropy and remittances together Canada scores second to Sweden in terms of overall GDP spent, with Canada spending 1.26% of GDP. “Canada jumps from fifteenth to second place, mainly as a result of the large remittance outflows from Canada to developing countries, which alone make up .83% of Canada’s G.N.I. [Gross National Income]” (see page 15 of the report)
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June 17, 2010
The long anticipated report by Commissioner John C Major entitled “Air India Flight 182: A Canadian Tragedy” was released today.
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June 16, 2010
Posted by Mark Blumberg on 06/16 |
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Canadian Charity Law
CRA in a letter discusses certain issues that were posed at the 2008 STEP National Conference. Question 12 dealt with Third-Party Civil Penalties and it noted that as of April 21, 2008 12 such cases existed of which “2 relate to an offensive donation arrangement”. Since then there have been other Third-Party Civil Penalties against those involved with abusive charity donation schemes.
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In this letter CRA discusses “Will a corporation that is being incorporated under provincial non-profit legislation be tax-exempt under paragraph 149(1)(l) of the ITA?” CRA notes “Paragraph 149(1)(l) of the Act (set out below), provides an exemption from tax for organizations that meet certain criteria. The term “non-profit organization” does not have a specific meaning for federal income tax purposes; the Act does not define or use the term “non-profit organization”. However, we understand that it is common to refer to organizations qualifying for this tax exemption as “non-profit organizations”. Unfortunately, this can lead to confusion, as it means that an organization can be incorporated by a federal or provincial statute that uses the term “non-profit organization” (or something similar), but still not qualify for the tax exemption. In other words, the method of creating the organization does not affect whether the organization qualifies for the tax exemption. The tax exemption only applies if all the required conditions of paragraph 149(1)(l) are met, no matter how the organization is otherwise described or how it is set up.
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Posted by Mark Blumberg on 06/16 |
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Canadian Charity Law
The UK Charity Commission has published some revised guidance for UK charities on risk management, financial difficulties and insolvency, financial reserves and internal financial controls. While UK law is not identical to Canadian law these documents provide very helpful information for Canadian charities.
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I frequently receive e-mails from people, or relatives of people, who have been involved in an abusive charity gifting tax shelter. I thought I would share one of those e-mails and also my response. Abusive charity tax shelters - it is more than a legal issue (they don’t work), it is more than an ethical issue (they are highly unethical), there is a huge emotional toll associated with these schemes and the 10 or so year process of worry and uncertainty. I received the permission of the person to reproduce the e-mail exchange.
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June 15, 2010
CRA has updated the form for Canadian registered charities to file with CRA if the charity has made errors in its T3010 Registered Charity Information Return and related forms. The form can be found at: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/t1240/README.html It is important that Canadian registered charities not only file their T3010 but also complete it accurately. Many donors and funders look at the T3010 and errors on that form can undermine a charity’s ability to obtain donations and funding.
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