Head in the Cloud, and Books and Records on the Ground
By: Kara Johnson If someone asked you “where” your cloud storage is, would you know the answer? The “cloud” is the common term used when data is stored remotely but yet accessible (to your multiple devices) through the internet. Given that the data is now ‘remote’ we often receive ...
Community Interest Corporations and Community Contribution Companies
By: Sukhdeep Singh Sembi As our readers know the new government has taken steps to revamp the restrictions on political activities by charities, by dismantling the political activities audit program and by promising a new approach following consultation with the public and members of the charities industry. It is ...
Receipt Issuing and Donor Goodwill
By: Arthur Drache Each year in January and February we review our list of charitable donations made and start checking to see whether we have received receipts for the donations. Over the years we have found that inevitably there will be some problems though generally the issuing of receipts has ...
Charter Challenge to Political Activities of Charities
By: Alexandra Tzannidakis When the Liberals came into power last year, the new Minister of National Revenue announced that she was putting a halt to the “political activities” audit of charities that the previous administration had been conducting for the past few years. In practice, this meant that the charities ...
Indian Bands as Municipalities
By: Arthur Drache, C.M., Q.C. Under the Income Tax Act [1] Indian Bands which qualify as public bodies performing a function of government in Canada are exempt from tax. But for years the issue was always how to determine what activities were required to meet the test. This was often ...
CRA Updates on Split-receipting
By: Kara Johnson On November 8, the CRA issued Income Tax Folio S7-F1-C1, Split-receipting and Deemed Fair Market Value. The Folio Chapter replaces and cancels Interpretation Bulletin IT-110R3, Gifts and Official Donation Receipts and Income Tax Technical News No. 26 (ITTN 26). Most of the content of the Folio is ...
Act Now or Forever Hold Your Political Activities Peace!
By: Sukhdeep Singh Sembi Following the dissolution, earlier this year, of the political activities audit program, the CRA wishes to receive input from the public in order to modernize the rules regarding political activities for charities. The process will consist of email submissions and in-person consultations with representatives from the ...
The Right to Remain Silent
By: Adam Aptowitzer Practically every tax professional in the country has had to deal with the situation which arises when the CRA bases its reassessing position on the basis of an oral comment to the CRA. The difficulty is that there is no proof the comment was made or it ...
Charity Brings New Charter Challenge to Political Activity Restrictions
By: Alexandra Tzannidakis When the Liberals came into power last year, the new Minister of National Revenue announced that she was putting a halt to the “political activities” audit of charities that the previous administration had been conducting for the past few years. In practice, this meant that the charities ...
Changes to the Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act – No Diversity Provisions
By: Karen Cooper As part of a legislative package intended to promote corporate transparency and diversity, Bill C-25 An Act to amend the Canada Business Corporations Act, the Canada Cooperatives Act, the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act and the Competition Act (“Bill C-25”) introduces changes to various federal corporate laws. The ...
Why Boards Should Not Allow Directors to Take a Leave of Absence
by: Sylvie Lalonde When people agree to join a board of directors, it is usually because they have an interest in or passion for the work of the organization. Most directors want and are committed to fulfilling their duties and responsibilities, including devoting the time to fully prepare for, regularly ...
Consultation on Political Activities of Charities
By: Arthur Drache Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier has announced[1] that the CRA will collaborate with the Department of Finance to engage with charities to clarify the rules governing political activities. The online consultations are now open, and the in-person consultations which will be held in six cities across Canada ...
Sticking to your Knitting: and other fascinating facts about diapers
By: C. Yvonne Chenier, Q.C. Charitable food banks have been in the news lately. In Europe, the Government of France passed laws to stop supermarkets from throwing away food and instead making them donate it to charities and food banks. In California, where there is a sales tax on ...
Observing the Impossible Law
By: Adam Aptowitzer It is a commonly understood principle of law that for a law to be fair it must be possible for those regulated to obey. For example, nobody would think a law against speeding just if the speed limit changes arbitrarily. In charity law this situation is not ...
CRA releases infograph to assist Charities with annual filings
By: Sukhdeep Singh Sembi The continued effort to simplify correspondence to taxpayers from the CRA has recently resulted in the agency publishing an infograph to help charities understand when their annual filings are due. Charities must file the T3010 information return within six months of its fiscal year-end. The process ...
Proxy Form Cannot Compromise Fair Conduct of Meeting
by Sylvie Lalonde Over the summer we have seen the media headlines reporting on the unsuccessful negotiations of a new Physician Services Agreement (“PSA”) between the Ontario Medical Association (“OMA”) and the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care (“MOHLTC”). The PSA sets out the fee schedule for medical services ...
Ethical Investing: Social Good Ahead of Profits
by Arthur Drache Most investment fund managers have a single goal…to produce the best return on the funds under their control. Most also are subject to guidelines set by clients. These guidelines are usually associated with the quality of companies which are being considered, their size and the market within ...
Israeli Arrests Provide Lessons for Canadian Charities
By: Adam Aptowitzer For most Canadians and Canadian Charities the Anti-Terrorism rules are a red herring to be reviewed only in the rarest of situations, if at all. However, recent events in Israel provide some motivation for Canadian Charities doing work abroad to take a closer look at these rules. ...
On Modernizing the Definition of “Charity”
By Alexandra Tzannidakis Canadian charity law, being largely based on that of the United Kingdom, traces its roots directly back to the preamble of the English Charitable Uses Act of 1601, known as the “Statute of Elizabeth I”. Although the Statute itself was repealed in the 19th century, the preamble ...
Even In the Face of Disaster Charities Should Not Stray From Their Purposes
By: Yvonne Chenier, Q.C. Whether it is assisting Syrian refugees to settle in Canada or helping those fleeing from floods and fires, the goodwill of the people and charities in Canada always make headlines. In times of disaster, it seems many charities want to raise money and get on the ...
Ransomware Hits Charities
By Arthur Drache C.M., Q.C. In early May, the Charity Commission of England and Wales, issued an alert to charities about what has been called “ransomware”. “Trustees, charity professionals and volunteers should continue to be aware of online extortion or ‘ransom’ demands affecting UK businesses. Charities could also be vulnerable ...
An Update to the Tax Donation Rate Schedule
By Adam Aptowitzer In early March we wrote of the difficulty in keeping track of the tax credit rate applied to donations in the various provinces. The problem relates to the differing approaches to matching the credit rate to the tax rate at the highest bracket. Now that Provincial Budget ...
Separate But Together: A Property Tax Lesson
By Adam Aptowitzer Next to the ability to issue charitable donation tax receipts a break in property taxes is likely the next most popular reason for seeking registered status. Of course, the considerations on this issue vary from province to province as the exemption from property tax is a matter ...
Employment Agreements
Mark S. Anshan Employment Agreements are an essential feature of the employer-employee relationship in the for-profit sector. They should be considered equally important in the not-for profit sector A properly prepared employment agreement with senior executives will provide the basis for a positive working relationship with lay leaders. Of course, ...
Donation of Land by Non-Resident
By Arthur Drache A recently published (but a year or so old) ruling letter from the CRA deals with the donation of land in Canada by a non-resident where to avoid the capital gains tax, an election was made under under subsection 118.1(6) .[1] This provision allows a donor to ...
