October 28, 2010
Another registered Canadian amateur athletic association (RCAAA) loses its status because of involvement with abusive charity gifting tax shelters. $25.9 million in donation receipts. This sports group should be ashamed of itself.
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October 27, 2010
Posted by Mark Blumberg on 10/27 |
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Canadian Charity Law
Charity receipting fraud in Canada is a big problem. According to CRA, between 100,000-135,000 donors have been involved between 2004 and 2009 with hundreds of millions in fraudulent donation receipts issued. There is no question that the courts will sentence anyone involved to prison. The issue is how much time. In R. v. Leo-Mensah it dealt with that issue. The Crown sought a stiffer sentence and the courts agreed and gave the accused an extra two years, that is after he had already spent 11 months in pre-trial custody for which he receive a credit on a two-for-one basis. He also received a significant fine. The trial judge had not taken into account “as an aggravating factor, that the value of the fraud committed exceeded $1,000,000. This she was obliged to do pursuant to s. 380.1(1)(a) of the Criminal Code.”
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October 26, 2010
Posted by Mark Blumberg on 10/26 |
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Canadian Charity Law
The 2010 Fall Report of the Auditor General of Canada has been released and Chapter 7 deals with Registered Charities and the Canada Revenue Agency. The audit report is positive. The report suggests some areas for changes or improvements. Here is the conclusion to the report:
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October 25, 2010
Here is a copy of the Blumbergs Canadian Charity Law List newsletter for October 2010.
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Cathy Hawara, previously Acting Director General, has now been appointed Director General of the Charities Directorate of the CRA, effective October 5, 2010. This is very good news as we will have some greater stability at the Charities Directorate. She has continued the approach of consultation with the sector, providing education to registered charities on their Income Tax Act obligations and a much needed vigorous crackdown on a few bad apples who are involved with abusive charity gifting tax shelters and receipting fraud.
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The Ontario Not-For-Profit Corporations Act received Royal Assent on October 25, 2010. Here is a copy of the Explanatory Notes and the Ontario Not-For-Profit Corporations Act.
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October 16, 2010
Posted by Mark Blumberg on 10/16 |
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Canadian Charity Law
Here is an interesting article by Kevin Donovan of the Toronto Star entitled “Charity boss hires own firm to fundraise” in which he describes some of the dealings at the Oshawa Hospital Foundation. There is also a response by the Oshawa Hospital Foundation. [Update - There are further articles, including in the Toronto Star that discuss this issue and they are noted below]
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Posted by Mark Blumberg on 10/16 |
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Canadian Charity Law
I am going to be involved with a number of informal “Charity Chats” over the next few months. The first one is going to be on “Media Coverage of Charities and Fundraising Rules”. The description is “The media has recently been focused on fundraising practices of Canadian charities. Join Ken Mayhew, Chief Development Officer, MS Society of Canada, and Chair, Association of Fundraising Professionals Government Relations Committee, and charity lawyer Mark Blumberg, of Blumberg Segal LLP and editor of GlobalPhilanthopy.ca, who will discuss: Media’s view of fundraising by charities; The Fundraising Guidance and how this will affect media coverage; Essential elements of the Fundraising Guidance and how they can be used to respond to media and public concerns.
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Posted by Mark Blumberg on 10/11 |
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Canadian Charity Law
Here are some comments from attendees to my recent presentations on receipting.
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