Charities – Articles Archives

By: C. Yvonne Chenier, Q.C Organizations that have Annual General Meetings at this time of the year look forward to new beginnings and welcoming new board members. Well-managed organizations also take stock, do a bit of spring cleaning, and have an eye on the risks that they can or should ...

By Alexandra Tzannidakis, LL.B. CASL is a spam-fighting Act that, among other things, regulates what kind of electronic messages people and organizations can send and under what circumstances. It applies to sending e-mails, text messages, social media, and other forms of electronic message, but not to faxes or phone calls ...

By: Adam Aptowitzer In most cases the application of law is conceptually simple the law is transgressed and a punishment applies. Unfortunately, in the charity world nothing is simple. When a charity is found to have transgressed the law the Charities Directorate may decide on a range of options. One ...

By: Sylvie Lalonde This article is the second of a two part series on maintaining reserves for not-for-profit organizations and charities. The first part dealt with reserves and the duties of directors, while this one will provide some tips on how to develop a reserves policy. You can read the ...

By: Mark S. Anshan In the February newsletter, we discussed the need for updating By-laws and policies as a key element of attaining good governance.  A corollary and important issue is the responsibility directors and officers carry in respect of the oversight of the work and operations of the organization ...

By: Arthur Drache For directors of charities which are fortunate enough to have investable funds, these are stressful times. With interest rates low (though perhaps on the rise) many trustees are concerned about getting a decent return on invested funds and trying to preserve capital. But they also have to ...

By: Sylvie Lalonde This article is the first of a two part series on maintaining reserves for not-for-profit organizations and charities. This one deals with reserves and the duties of directors, while the second part will provide tips on how to develop a reserves policy. When the economic climate is ...

By: Adam Aptowitzer  People always complain about the tax laws being way too complex but you know things are bad when even the tax lawyers are losing track of the most fundamental elements of the law. And what could be a more fundamental element of income tax then knowing the ...

By: Adam Aptowitzer  News that Canada will legalize physician assisted death has prompted many publicly funded hospitals with Catholic ties to publicly state that they will not allow the practice in their hospitals. Their position is similar to the one they hold on abortion. The whole discussion is reminiscent of the ...

By: Arthur Drache A recent ruling letter from the CRA[1]dealt with a host of scenarios revolving around the use of surplus funds in non-profits organizations (not charities).to determine if a benefit to members result from the use of an accumulated surplus under various scenarios. We should note that nothing in ...

By: Arthur Drache  The charities sector has been atwitter about the Liberal promises to re-examine the issue of political activities.1 There has been an assumption by some that the whole issue had its genesis in the perception that the Harper government was targeting ”progressive” organizations, notably those which seemed to ...

By Alexandra Tzannidakis On January 29th, Finance Minister Bill Morneau moved to have the Liberal government’s Bill C-2[1] of proposed tax changes undergo second reading in the House of Commons. This bill proposes to reduce the second personal income tax rate from 22% to 20.5% and introduce a new top ...

By: Adam Aptowitzer  The Income Tax Act is known for its complexity, but even with that reputation, sometimes the drafters surpass themselves.  The provisions enacted from Budget 2014 changing the way Canadians are taxed at death (as opposed to the more usual taxed to death) is a case in point.  ...

By: C. Yvonne Chenier, Q.C. After a few years of a chill being felt in the charitable sector, things may be thawing out a bit, in early January no less.  The CRA has recently issued a news release titled “Minister Lebouthillier announces winding down of the political activities audit program ...

By: Mark Anshan We find that many non profit clients have recently requested assistance with updating their By-laws and drafting policy manuals that cover off a wide array of policies that need not nor should be in the By-laws.  As well, we notice that many non profit organizations have not ...

By: Arthur Drache  As the Liberals promised in their election campaign, they have effectively shut down the much maligned (rightly in our view) political activities audit programme which many believed was used to target organizations which were critical of the former government. The controversial program was launched with fanfare in ...

New Tax Court Decision in Mattacchione: Intuitive But Unsettling By: Adam Aptowitzer In the still smoldering wreckage of the charitable donation tax shelters a new case has surfaced, which holds that the receipt itself could vitiate the entire gift. Those familiar with these strategies understand that the only reason most ...

Charities and Their Employees Can Benefit From Motor Vehicle Deductions By Alexandra Tzannidakis  Despite not being for-profit enterprises, charities that employ people do so in much the same capacity as any business. Employees of charities are entitled to the same tax benefits as anyone else.  This includes the deduction of motor vehicle ...

Supporting Syrian Refugees: Public Benefit or Private Benevolence By: Karen Cooper  With the recent focus in the media and among grassroots organizations, many Canadians are supporting or thinking about supporting the settlement of Syrian refugees to Canada.  Oftentimes they are doing so with the direct or indirect involvement of registered ...

Why Do Charities Need Creditor Proofing? This is Why. By: Adam Aptowitzer In the aftermath of the abuse scandals at Catholic schools and churches the charity world learned much about how creditors could seize control of a charity’s assets. As a result many organizations began studying methods to protect charitable ...

When an Advantage is not an Advantage By: Arthur Drache  Everybody who raises funds in Canada for a charity presumably is aware of the fact that when a gift is made, a receipt can be issued for the full amount minus any advantage which accrues to the donor. So, for ...

Time to Revisit the Donation Deadline By: Adam Aptowitzer Several years ago we proposed an idea to the Parliamentary Finance Committee which became the basis for Bill C-458.  The fundamental idea was that donation tax credits from donations in the first 60 days of the year could be applied to ...

Why some charities lost their status in 2015. By C. Yvonne Chenier, Q.C. Every year the charitable registration status of a few charitable organizations, public foundations, private foundations or Canadian Amateur Athletic Associations is officially revoked by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). That means that the organization can no longer ...

By Arthur B.C. Drache, CM, QC From the time it became clear that the Liberals would form a government and would bring in changes to the tax rate structure including a new 33% bracket for high income taxpayers (those with more than $200,000 of taxable income), charities and fundraisers have ...

By C. Yvonne Chenier Last year at this time I was dreaming of sugarplums obviously when I ended my December 2014 article with hope for legislative reform to reduce red tape and help our charity and not for profit clients. Then on budget night in the early months of 2015, ...