September 29, 2010

New Federal Lobbying Act rules will affect Canadian charities who lobby Canadian government

Recently the Canadian government announced changes to the Lobbying Act to include “all members of Parliament, senators and senior staff in the offices of the Leader of the Opposition, both in the House of Commons and the Senate” as designated public office holders.  Charities who are registered and have contact with such DPOHs will need to report such contact in their monthly returns.

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September 25, 2010

Charities Directorate releases “Charities Connection No. 4 – September 2010” - great stats, etc.

The Charities Directorate released “Charities Connection No. 4 – September 2010”.  In addition to having some very interesting statistics on the Charities Directorate it also covers educational programs for charities and donor as well as new pages on revocation.

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September 24, 2010

Registered Charities in Canada presentation by Cathy Hawara to the ABA Section of Taxation 2010

Here is a copy of a powerpoint slide presentation from the Acting Director General of the Charities Directorate, Cathy Hawara, on Registered Charities in Canada.

September 22, 2010

CBC reports that “Charities paid $762M to private fundraisers”

Here is an article on CBC today entitled “Charities paid $762M to private fundraisers”.  It looks at third party paid fundraising costs.

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HST for Ontario and British Columbia – Questions and Answers for Public Service Bodies

CRA just released a 22 page notice entitled “Harmonized Sales Tax for Ontario and British Columbia – Questions and Answers for Public Service Bodies”.  The notice is at: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/gi/notice253/README.html

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September 21, 2010

Can spouse claim a charitable donation previously reported and carried forward on a spouse’s return

This CRA letter deals with “Whether, in a subsequent year, a taxpayer can claim charitable donations previously reported and carried forward on a spouse or common law partner’s personal tax return.”  CRA’s position is yes.  “REASONS:  The CRA’s administrative practice allows a taxpayer to initially choose which spouse or common law partner will report a donation or gift and allows for the subsequent transfer of any carryforward balances from one to the other.”  Here is the full letter from CRA.

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September 19, 2010

Paul Waldie’s article “Gifting tax audits ensnare 170,000 Canadians” is most read story on ROB.

It is interesting that Paul Waldie’s article entitled “Gifting tax audits ensnare 170,000 Canadians” was this week’s most read story at reportonbusiness.com It is well worth reading.  The comments afterward are the normal i.e. everything from interesting to outrageous.  This article has certainly put some light on the issue of abusive charity tax shelters.

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September 17, 2010

CRA adds new topic to Applying for registration section: Charitable activities outside Canada

CRA has added another page to the Applying for registration section of their website dealing with registered charities applying for registration who will be conducting foreign activities.  This page gives a good summary of the rules surrounding foreign activities by Canadian charities but any charity or proposed charity contemplating foreign activities should also look at the links especially CRA’s new guidance on foreign activities.

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September 16, 2010

Workshops on Foreign Activities by Canadian charities - Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg

I will be delivering some workshops on the new CRA guidance on foreign activities by Canadian charities in Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg.

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Lang & O’Leary Exchange deals with charity tax shelters - interview with Mark Blumberg

On September 15, 2010 I appeared on the Lang & O’Leary Exchange to discuss charity gifting tax shelters and the ongoing CRA crackdown.

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