The Charity Law Information program has posted various videos at http://www.vimeo.com/charitylaw These videos came from a conference entitled “Being Good and Doing Good” which was held in Toronto in 2010.
Operation Save Canada Teenagers and Revival Time Ministries International were revoked by CRA for improper receipting, falsifying bank statements and other assorted problems. Attempts to appeal by Reverend Daniel Mokwe failed.
I have been blogging about C-470 since March of 2010 with many concerns about the process in which the bill was forwarded and the content of the bill. When this current election was called C-470 died on the order paper. Here is a note from AFP on C-470 and the National Philanthropy Day legislation. It is important that there is good transparency in the charitable sector - the sector definitely needs to grapple with this issue, preferably in concert with CRA but having members of parliament determine the content of a form (ie. the T3010), a form for which they don’t even know its name, is not a good way to prioritize their time. There is already quite a bit of disclosure on compensation in the T3010. As I discussed in my original blog there are a number of areas that require greater disclosure, which was to some extent dealt with in the proposed 2011 Budget.
Like many Canadians I will be watching the election. I will be blogging on whether there are implications for the charitable sector and whether any of the parties have anything particularly interesting to say about the charitable sector. Also, a quick reminder to registered charities, that they cannot be involved with partisan political activities and there are restrictions on the scope and resources that registered charities can use on political activities. Here is an article on legal requirements for Canadian charities wanting to conduct political activities in the 2011 Canadian Federal Election.
Here is an article entitled “Tax rule changes take charities by surprise” at the Globe and Mail.
CRA announced today that “The registration for the April 27, 2011, Charities Information Webinar is now open. This webinar will be on Non-compliance issues and how to avoid them.”
In this 2004 case a BC lawyer is charged with 23 counts of tax evasion and making false or deceptive statements with respect to certain income tax returns and a complicated transaction involving charities. In this decision of the Provincial Court the lawyer is acquitted of all charges. The case raises a number of significant legal and ethical issues and anyone interested in planned giving or being a professional advisor advising charities should be aware of the case.
I had the privilege today of attending the Budget 2011 Stakeholders Lock-up. Here are the parts of the budget that relate to registered charities and other qualified donees. Also below are some of the highlights of the budget.
Here is a CRA letter on whether naming rights for provided to a business that made a donation to a registered charity is an advantage under split receipting rules. In other words if a business has a naming opportunity is there a value/advantage in that naming opportunity such that the Canadian charity must reduce the value of the gift when determining the “eligible amount of the gift” for Income Tax Act purposes?
Here is a recent CRA letter on the clergy residence deduction which confirms in this particular case of an ordained minister working as a chaplain/spiritual care coordinator in a long term care facility that he is qualified for the clergy residence deduction under the Income Tax Act.
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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