February 16, 2020
Very surprising statistics from the Charities Directorate on recent charity registrations
I recently looked at a couple of ATIP documents from the Charities Directorate and I was quite surprised at the decline in the number of charity…
February 16, 2020
The TCC rejects abusive charitable gifting tax scheme in Tudora v. The Queen
On January 27, 2020, the Honourable Justice Ronald MacPhee of the Tax Court of Canada (TCC) rejected an appeal from Alexandru Tudora dealing with the…
February 16, 2020
FCA dismisses Markou appeal in “Donation Program for Medical Science and Technology”
The Federal Court of Appeal on December 5, 2019 dismissed the appeal in Markou V. Canada relating to the 'abusive charity gifting tax scheme'…
February 10, 2020
Tax preparer given prison sentence for false charitable donation receipts
Here is a recent bulletin from CRA dealing with the problem of fraudulent official donation receipts. Canada Revenue Agency Feb 07, 2020,…
February 10, 2020
CRA replaces RC59 with Form AUT-01 Authorize a Representative for Access by Phone and Mail
CRA has said that they will no longer accept the RC59 Business Consent for Offline Access and now as of today one will need to use the new Form…
January 29, 2020
Class action lawsuit certified for GLGI donation scheme
The Canadian Lawyer has an article Class action certified for "sham" charitable donation tax scheme. It discusses the class action lawsuit against a…
January 22, 2020
Another update from the Ontario government on ONCA
On January 7, 2020, I got another update from the Ontario government on ONCA. I warn you for those who read my blogs that the update does not really…
January 21, 2020
Mark Blumberg speaking at the 17th Annual Foundation, Endowment and Not for Profit Investment Summit
Mark Blumberg will be speaking on top compliance issues and transparency with investments at the 17th Annual Foundation, Endowment and Not for Profit…
January 18, 2020
Australian Wildfires and Canadian donors
We all see from the media the terrible wildfires in Australia. Some Canadian donors or charities have wanted to assist with the relief and recovery…
January 18, 2020
The war on philanthropy that does not exist, apparently continues!
The Wall Street Journal on January 8, 2020 in an opinion piece entitled "The War on Philanthropy: Private giving achieves what government…
January 18, 2020
Universities outside of Canada that are qualified donees and fundraising in Canada
If a University is outside of Canada and on a special list maintained by CRA then that foreign university can issue Canadian "official donation…
January 13, 2020
Upcoming Webinars for the Canadian Charity Law Association
The Canadian Charity Law Association is delivering some upcoming webinars. Registration is free but space is limited. Topics are subject to change.…
January 5, 2020
CRA releases application form for qualified Canadian journalism organizations
The CRA on December 20, 2019, put out a press release on their incentives relating to journalism. As well CRA has released the T625 Application for…
December 20, 2019
Blumbergs’ Canadian Charity Law Boot Camp 2020
Blumbergs is pleased to announce that we will be hosting Blumbergs' Canadian Charity Law Boot Camp again on Monday April 20, 2020. An easy enough…
December 18, 2019
Mormon church has US$100 billion dollar fund and questions asked about it.
The Washington Post recently had an article entitled "Mormon Church has misled members on $100 billion tax-exempt investment fund, whistleblower…
December 18, 2019
Another exposé on super wealthy using DAFs in a way that raises lots of questions
There was recently an article in VOX entitled "Google’s Larry Page gave $400 million in Christmas donations. Not a penny went straight to charity.…
December 5, 2019
Church of Atheism of Central Canada v. CRA – atheism is not a religion for Canadian charity purposes
A recent Federal Court of Appeal case Church of Atheism of Central Canada v. Canada (National Revenue) deals with a group promoting atheism who…
December 1, 2019
CRA’s Top Five Audit Issues
If you have ever wondered what are some of the most common findings CRA has when it audits charities well here is the "Top Five Audit Issues":…
November 13, 2019
Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation is for now a qualified donee in Canada
There is a list called "foreign charities that have received a gift from Her Majesty in right of Canada". As the name suggests a group that gets a…
November 13, 2019
CRA terminates some municipalities as qualified donees
I know the title sounds a little harsh but I recently checked a list that the CRA maintains of municipalities that are "qualified donees" or groups…
November 13, 2019
Increase in numbers of organizations in two qualified donee categories
There are a couple of important qualified donee categories that have increased in size - first the "List of municipal or public bodies performing a…
November 13, 2019
The CRA has released an updated 2019 version of its T3010 Registered Charity Information Return
The CRA has released recently the 2019 version C of its T3010 Registered Charity Information Return. The major changes deal with replacing political…
October 28, 2019
VITREO Brain Trust Philanthropy Podcast on Community Foundations, DAFs and Perpetual Funds
I was recently on a VITREO podcast entitled Episode 31: The Impact of the Community Foundation - How They Have Become Power Players in…
October 25, 2019
Miller v. The Queen, 2019 TCC 204 – the Tax Court of Canada sure can be slow
There was a recent Tax Court of Canada ("TCC") case Miller v. The Queen, 2019 TCC 204. It is not an important or exciting case - it deals with a…