Drache Aptowitzer LLP

Tax and Charity Lawyers for Charities, Not for Profits, and Individuals in Canada

Drache Aptowitzer LLP is honoured to be included in the 2019-2020 edition of the Canadian Lawyer Magazine's listing of
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Charities – Current Articles

CECRA: New Information on Rent Relief for Charities and Non-Profits
What’s the hold up with rent assistance for small business, charities, and non-profits in Canada? In part it has to do with the way that Canada divides power between the federal and provincial government. While programs like the Canada Emergency Response Benefit could be rolled out quickly by a single government, rent relief is a little more complicated. The provinces are each responsible for property owner-tenant relationships within their jurisdiction, but a single pan-Canadian rent ...
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April 24, 2020 / Articles, Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance, CECRA, Charities - Current Articles, coronavirus, COVID-19, Lex Klombies, NEWS, rent, Rent Relief
Changes to Canada Summer Jobs will help some non-profits and charities affected by COVID-19
The Government of Canada announced additional information of interest to non-profits and charities today (April 8, 2020).  The changes to the Canada Summer Jobs program will help small businesses hire and keep the workers they need so they can continue to deliver essential services. According to today’s press release:[1] The temporary changes to the program for this year include: an increase to the wage subsidy, so that private and public sector employers can also receive ...
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April 8, 2020 / Articles, Canada Summer Jobs Program, Charities - Current Articles, coronavirus, coronavirus update, Covid, COVID-19, Lex Klombies, wage subsidy
New Details on the 75% Wage Subsidy
To help charities and not-for-profits keep up with the fast paced changes to Canada’s emergency relief, we are sharing a news release[1] made by the Department of Finance today (April 8, 2020) which provided further details on the eligibility criteria for businesses, charities, and non-profits for the proposed Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) (often referred to as simply the “75% wage subsidy”). If you are unfamiliar with the details, here is a quick overview of ...
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April 8, 2020 / 75% wage subsidy, Articles, Canada emergency relief measures, CEWS., Charities - Current Articles, emergency relief, Lex Klombies, wage subsidy
Managing Charitable Investments and Disbursements in the face of COVID-19
The current pandemic and its impact on markets reminds us of the economic crisis of 2009-2010.  Leaving aside for the experts the question of whether the pandemic has triggered or will trigger an economic crisis leading to a recession, the current volatility of financial markets is raising questions for charitable organizations and foundations about how to manage their investments and whether they can (and/or should) be contributing to the federal and provincial governments’ current strategy ...
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April 1, 2020 / Articles, Charities - Current Articles, coronavirus, Covid, COVID-19, economic, economic crisis, investment, Karen Cooper, managing charitable investments
Holding Meetings during the Ontario State of Emergency
In light of the state of emergency,[1] corporations under the jurisdiction the Ontario Corporations Act (the”OCA”) are temporarily[2] being given more flexibility in holding their directors’ and members’ meetings. This is good news for non-profits and charities under the jurisdiction of the OCA who have looming deadlines to hold their AGMs or who have governing documents which prohibit them from holding meetings virtually or via conference call. We have summarized how the temporary measures published ...
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March 31, 2020 / AGM, Annual General Meetings, Articles, Charities - Current Articles, Covid, COVID-19, electronic meeting, Lex Klombies, Meetings, non-profit, nonprofit, not for profit corproations, OCA, ONCA, Ontario State of Emergency, State of Emergency
Government Announcements for Charities During the Covid Crisis
The Covid crisis is unprecedented for all, including charities. To deal with the crisis both federal and provincial governments have implemented a number of different programs. Elsewhere in this newsletter, Karen Cooper discusses the steps the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee has taken with respect to restricted funds. But there are a number of other programs that governments have unveiled to help various actors in the economy. This article is intended to bring ...
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March 31, 2020 / Articles, Charities - Current Articles, Covid, COVID-19, Government Announcements, Office of the PGT, provinces, wage subsidy, Work Sharing
Covid-19 update for Charities
While the situation is quickly evolving, we want to update our readers on how the COVID-19 pandemic may affect charities and non-profits’ regulatory obligations and their access to government services: Extended deadline for T3010s. The Charities Directorate is extending the filing deadline to December 31, 2020, for all charities with a Form T3010, Registered Charity Information Return due between March 18, 2020 and December 31, 2020. For example, a charity with a fiscal year end ...
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March 26, 2020 / Articles, Charities - Current Articles, coronavirus, coronavirus update, COVID-19, Lex Klombies
Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee (Ontario) – Statement on Accessing Funds During COVID-19 Crisis
The Ontario Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee (“PGT”) within the Ministry of the Attorney General issued a special statement on March 30, 2020 titled Accessing Restricted Purpose Trust Funds Prior to Obtaining a Court Order During the COVID19 Pandemic (the “Statement”). The Statement indicates that the PGT has developed temporary guidelines to allow charities that are in danger of closing to access the income and capital of restricted purpose trust funds when necessary ...
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March 25, 2020 / Accessing Funds, Articles, charitable investments, Charities - Current Articles, coronavirus, COVID-19, economic crisis, guidelines, Karen Cooper, PGT
BC Throws a Wrench in the Life Insurance Works
People buy life insurance policies for a number of reasons. These reasons may include to fund potential business obligations or to protect a young family. In either case, the purpose of the policy may disappear if the individual outlives the need for which they purchased the insurance in the first place. In the case of the previous examples, this may occur in situations where the business is sold or the children are grown while the ...
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January 20, 2020 / Adam Aptowitzer, Charities - Current Articles, charity policy, donation of life insurance, financial institutions commission of british columbia, insurance act, insurance act of ontario, life insurance
ONCA: Ten Years Old and Unproclaimed
The Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (the “ONCA”), received royal assent in October 2010. After nearly ten years, it has neither been proclaimed into force nor been given an official date to be proclaimed into force. This limbo state is sometimes referred to as being “unproclaimed”, as the bill has passed but there is no official date on which the legislation will be proclaimed into force. For the last two years, the ONCA has been expected ...
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January 20, 2020 / Articles, Charities - Current Articles, Corporations Act of Ontario, Lex Klombies, not-for-profit organizations, ONCA
Donations on Behalf of Others: Whose Name Goes on the Tax Receipt
Calgary Flames fans were riling up Edmontonians this January by fundraising for a billboard ad in the Edmonton Oilers’ turf featuring a Flames player. An Edmonton woman came up with a charmingly Canadian response to the show of friendly rivalry between the two Albertan hockey teams’ fans. She made a donation to a Calgary-based charity in honour of Oilers’ player Zack Kassian and tweeted a screenshot challenging other Oilers fans to do the same. Charities ...
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January 20, 2020 / Articles, charitable donations, charitable tax deductions, Charities - Current Articles, donations, Lex Klombies, tax receipts
How Charitable Purposes Can Impact Your Property Taxes
Charitable and non-profit entities may receive a range of tax advantages, some of which can potentially be quite significant. One such advantage is a break on property taxes. In Ontario, the Assessment Act provides a full exemption from property tax to various charitable and non-profit outfits, including religious organizations, care homes, child care centres, cemeteries, educational institutions, public hospitals, and more. Similar exemptions can be found throughout Canada, as well as abroad. These exemptions can ...
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January 20, 2020 / Alexandra Tzannidakis, Articles, charities, Charities - Current Articles, CRA, CRA policy, donation, property tax, taxes
It’s a Whole New Ball Game for Charities at the FCA
Canadians are well used to attending at various tribunals, boards, and panels. The assumption is that the decision makers at these bodies are subject to certain rules to ensure that they operate fairly and come to decisions that are applied legally. Parliament and the various provincial legislatures have set up these quasi-courts to take advantage of the specialized experience they ostensibly wield in their various areas. So, one would expect that a member of the ...
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January 15, 2020 / Adam Aptowitzer, Articles, Charities - Current Articles, court rulings, CRA, federal rulings, Tax, tax, tax court
CRA Ruling on Loanback Provisions
A recent ruling from the CRA dealing with the “Loanback Provisions” of the Income Tax Act as they affect charities will be of some interest. The ruling was in response to a written request for CRA views regarding the application of the loanback provisions found in subsection 118.1(16) of the Income Tax Act to two situations described in your request In the interest of accuracy, we reproduce the response verbatim. “Briefly, in the first situation, ...
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November 19, 2019 / Arthur Drache, Charities - Current Articles, CRA Rulings, fair market value, gift provisions, Loanback Provisions
Charities in the Waiting Room
Most organizations that are pursuing charitable status are incorporated. Part of the requirement for achieving such status is that the corporation is organized to pursue charitable purposes. But that by itself is not enough for charitable registration and so prospective charities must apply to the CRA for registration. The question then arises about the tax status of those corporations that are not yet (and may never be) registered charities, and what are their responsibilities? Just ...
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November 18, 2019 / Adam Aptowitzer, Articles, Charitable Status, Charities - Current Articles, Charities Directorate, registered charity, tax consequences, waiting for charitable registration
CHAMP is not a Winner
Over the past several years, the Charities Directorate has been enthusiastically anticipating some much-needed technological modernizations to its operations. On June 1, 2019, the Directorate finally rolled out online applications for charitable registration (Form T2050) and the annual charity returns (Form T3010), which had previously been paper-only. The new automated system, dubbed CHAMP, shows promise – but also some serious concerns. It was clearly not planned very well, to the point that it seems questionable ...
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October 2, 2019 / Alexandra Tzannidakis, Articles, CHAMP, charitable registration, Charities - Current Articles, online charity registration
No Equity in Tax Court
Those with long memories in the charity sector will recall that the voluntary sector initiative of the 1990's promoted the introduction of sanctions for offences that were less than revocation. It also advocated that appeals of these sanctions be heard by the Tax Court, and hoped that before long a body of case law would be developed to provide additional guidance to charities seeking to avoid these penalties. Amongst these intermediate sanctions (as they were ...
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October 1, 2019 / Adam Aptowitzer, Articles, Charities - Current Articles, Charity appeal, judicial review, Tax Court of Canada, Voluntary Sector Initiative
This Just In: New Report Recognizes that Not All Charities are Bad Actors. Now someone tell the banks.
We have written before about the risks posed to Canadian charities from the international movement of financial institutions towards “de-risking”. De-risking is the response of these institutions to the movement by the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) and its related partner entities to force financial institutions to aid in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Because of the additional costs involved for the banks in monitoring risky accounts – and the ...
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September 30, 2019 / ACAMS, Adam Aptowitzer, Articles, banking sector, Charities - Current Articles, charities abroad, charity banking, De-risking, FATF, money laundering
Elections Period Tips for Registered Third Parties
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited the Governor General, Julie Payette, the morning of Wednesday, September 11th, 2019 to have the writs issued for the federal election, thus beginning the election period.[1] This came in the window between the deadline on Sunday, September 14 and Manitoba’s early Election Day on September 10th. Now that the writs have been issued, it is useful to reconsider what this means for not-for-profits who engage in advocacy. As we have ...
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September 27, 2019 / Articles, Canada Elections Act, Charities - Current Articles, election advertising, Lex Klombies, Registered Third Parties
Charities Information Sessions: Take it With a Grain of Salt
The Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency has restarted their in-person educational program for the charitable sector after a being cancelled in 2013 under Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The first Charities Information Session was held in Ottawa the morning of May 28th, 2019. We audited the first class to get a feel for whether we would recommend attending it. If your charitable organization or foundation is considering sending a board member, a treasurer, a ...
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September 27, 2019 / Articles, Charities - Current Articles, Charities Directorate, Charities Information Sessions, charities legal obligations, CRA Charities Directorate, Lex Klombies
Alter Ego Trust and Donations
At the National Convention of STEP held in Toronto in June of this year, there was a roundtable with the CRA and one of the questions will have importance to some planners with regard to donations for an alter ego trust to a charity. This is always a highly technical issue and we are reproducing the full question and answer as any attempt to summarize may cause readers to miss some of the nuances. Query: ...
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September 26, 2019 / Alter Ego Trust, Arthur Drache, Articles, beneficiary of trust, Charities - Current Articles, donations, qualified donee, taxpayer
Catalyst for Change: Senate’s Report on the Charitable Sector
On Thursday, June 20, 2019, the Senate Special Committee on the Charitable Sector, which was established to review the impact of the voluntary sector in Canada and the federal and provincial laws and policies governing charities and non-profit organizations, released its report, Catalyst for Change: A Roadmap to a Stronger Charitable Sector (hereinafter the “Report”). The Report (190 pages – a tour de force) contains the results of the committee’s 24 public hearings, including the ...
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June 26, 2019 / Articles, charitable sector, Charities - Current Articles, Karen Cooper, Senate Committee on the Charitable Sector
An Ounce of Prevention
As lawyers, we are often contacted when a dispute arises amongst members of an association. Inevitably, the dispute will devolve into a review of the legality of the actions of one or both sides. Given that most associations are corporations, there are, in fact, laws which must be followed in order that the authority of the corporation is properly wielded. So, when there is a dispute, it does not take long for a suggestion that ...
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June 24, 2019 / Adam Aptowitzer, Articles, Charities - Current Articles, Corporate Records
Organizations May Face Fines for Third-Party Election Advertising
Does your organization send out information about an issue? Does it have a position on that issue? Might that issue become a hot topic in the 2019 Federal election? If so, your organization might unknowingly be election advertising once the writ drops in September 2019. Yes, even if the position is presented in a non-partisan manner. And there are penalties for failing to register as a third-party and follow the rules in the recently amended ...
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June 24, 2019 / Articles, Charities - Current Articles, election advertising
Keeping the Options Open
Readers of the business news are often treated to headlines that CEOs receive compensation in the multi-millions of dollars. A large portion of this may be cash but, generally when the compensation goes from the absurd to the ludicrous, stock options are involved. Stock options are often given by start-up business to incentivize employees to work in a cash poor business in the hope that it will ‘hit it big’. The drafters of the Income ...
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June 24, 2019 / Articles, Charities - Current Articles, donation of stock options, stock options
Ruling on Student Loan Scheme Might Attract Non-Profits
A recently published CRA memorandum, which despite redactions, appears to refer to a proposed financing scheme at the provincial level will be some substantial interest to secondary educational institutions and may open the door to some private or charitable planning.[1] It has been edited to try to make it somewhat clearer. “This memorandum is in reply to your request for our views on the proposed program for student loans. It is our understanding that the ...
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June 24, 2019 / Articles, Charities - Current Articles, student loan
New Digital Services for Charities
As of June 1, 2019, the Canada Revenue Agency offers new digital services for charities through their platform, My Business Account (“MyBA”). You, your employee, or your Authorized Representative can do the following tasks online: apply to become a registered charity, a registered Canadian amateur athletic association (RCAAA), or registered national arts service organization (RNASO)Note the online platform is replacing the paper applicationscomplete and file your annual T3010 Registered Charity Information ReturnPaper returns are currently ...
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June 19, 2019 / Articles, CHAMP, Charities - Current Articles, Charities Directorate, CRA, digital service, my business account
Do record keeping time limits mean anything anymore?
One of the most common questions asked by the lay taxpayer is for how long they need to keep their tax records. And while there is a legislated answer for this, one wonders whether it is ever safe to destroy records. Paragraph 27 of IC 78-10R5 summarizes the retention periods as follows: for a corporation, two years from the date of the dissolution of the corporation (in the case of corporations that amalgamate or merge, ...
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March 22, 2019 / Articles, books and records, Charities - Current Articles, Record Keeping, record time limits, Retention periods
“Social Impact Bonds” on the Rise in Canada
Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) are an interesting part of the larger trend of ‘impact investing’ that has been rising in Canada and around the world in recent years. An SIB is essentially an investment model that allows a government to fund innovative social programs without having to risk its own assets up-front. The concept is fairly simple but rather ingenious. The government chooses a new social program, partners with an appropriate civil organization, and then ...
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March 22, 2019 / Alexandra Tzannidakis, Articles, Charities - Current Articles, SIB, Social Impact Bonds
Charities and the Canada Elections Act Amendments Part 2
By: Lex Klombies Part II: The Nitty-Gritty on the Canada Elections Act Amendments for Non-Profits and Charities The next Canadian federal election is on October 21st, 2019, and many of our readers are curious about what they need to be mindful of if they engage in public policy dialogue and development activities near election time. Part I of this series was dedicated to helping our readers get a sense of what kinds of charitable activities ...
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March 21, 2019 / Articles, Canada Elections Act, Canada Elections Act Amendment, Charities - Current Articles, Lex Klombies, political activities
Charities and the Canada Elections Act Amendments Part 1
Part I: Will My Charity Be Affected by the Canada Elections Act? The next Canadian federal election is on October 21st, 2019, and many of our readers are curious about what they need to be mindful of if they engage in public policy dialogue and development activities near election time. Two major changes to the field of political participation received royal assent on December 13th, 2018: changes to the charities’ political activities rules in the ...
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March 21, 2019 / Articles, Bill C-76, Canada Elections Act, Charities - Current Articles, Election, Elections Modernization Act, Lex Klombies
Payments from Businesses to Charities
 By: Arthur Drache More and more often we have been seeing significant payments by businesses to charities, not just modest support of annual campaigns but often payment in the tens of thousands of dollars. The fundamental question which must be understood by both the business and the charity is whether the transfer of funds is in fact a donation or whether it is, to use the common but imprecise term, a sponsorship. In the past ...
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March 21, 2019 / Articles, Charities - Current Articles, payments from businesses, sponsorships
Charities – Part of the Great Underbanked?
Every so often the media reports that there are people in the world who do not have access to banking services, the so-called “underbanked”. For those of us in Canada, it is almost impossible to imagine such a situation, given the ubiquity of our banks and the plethora of services that they offer. However, for registered charities and for Canadian not-for-profits operating overseas this situation is becoming an everyday reality. Many, if not most, governments ...
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March 21, 2019 / Adam Aptowitzer, Articles, Charities - Current Articles, Common Reporting Standard, CRS, derisking, Drache Aptowitzer LLP, Not for Profits, not-for-profit organizations, overseas, SAEFAI, Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information, underbanked
Gifts of Cultural Property – Undoing Heffel
Gifts of Cultural Property – Undoing Heffel By: Karen Cooper As part of a package of measures intended to increase support for Canadian artists and cultural events, Budget 2019 included aimed at ending any lingering uncertainty around gifts of cultural property arising from the Federal Court of Justice’s decision in Heffel Gallery Limited v. The Attorney General of Canada, 2018 FC 605 (“Heffel”).  An appeal of this decision was heard recently by the Federal Court ...
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March 20, 2019 / Budget 2019, Budgets, Charities - Current Articles, Drache Aptowitzer LLP, Heffel, Karen Cooper
Supporting Non-Profit Journalism
Supporting Non-Profit Journalism By Arthur Drache As had been promised last year, the Government has moved on it undertaking to support non-profit journalism…a promise which had been viewed as contentious in some circles. But as we had predicted, the mechanism to implement this scheme was to create a new category of qualified donees. The key elements of the plans are: allowing journalism organizations to register as qualified donees; a refundable labour tax credit for qualifying ...
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March 19, 2019 / Arthur Drache, Budget 2019, Budgets, Charities - Current Articles, Journalism, QCJO, Qualified Canadian Journalism Organization, qualified donee
Another Run at the Social Finance Fund
Another Run at the Social Finance Fund  By Alexandra Tzannidakis The 2019 Budget confirms the creation of a Social Finance Fund, which will make investments of federal capital into organizations that are working to remedy Canada’s social challenges. This project has been in the works for a while, beginning with the 2017 creation of a Social Innovation and Social Finance Strategy Co-Creation Steering Group. This Group, mainly comprised of charitable and non-profit sector experts, delivered ...
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March 19, 2019 / Budget 2019, Charities - Current Articles, social finance fund
Budget 2019: Housing strategies
Budget 2019: Housing strategies Lex Klombies Budget 2019 was heavy on housing strategies. Among other things, it claims to modernize the Home Buyer’s Plan, which went 10 years without being increased or even adjusted for inflation. Budget 2019 also proposes to introduce the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive, and to start a $100 million fund for third-parties providing shared equity mortgages. The much discussed stress test for insured mortgages hasn’t gone anywhere. Shared Equity Mortgage Fund ...
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March 19, 2019 / Budget 2019, Budgets, Charities - Current Articles, HBP, Home Buyer's Plan, Housing Stategies, irst-Time Home Buyer Incentive, Lex Klombies
Retail Therapy for Governments
Retail Therapy for Governments by: Adam Aptowitzer Pre-election budgets can be predictable in their spending, but in certain circumstances budgets are predictable because they spend. Budget 2019 falls into this unusual class of retail therapy because government revenues are pouring in yet this is a pre-election budget (and this is a Liberal government). Consequently, extra revenues did not result in tax cuts. but rather in more spending and there are a number of interesting proposals on ...
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March 19, 2019 / Adam Aptowitzer, Budget 2019, Budgets, Charities - Current Articles, FATF, GIS, tax
Nothing is More Opaque than Absolute Transparency
Nothing is More Opaque than Absolute Transparency[1] By: Adam Aptowitzer It is no secret that Canada often legislates on the basis of its international commitments. What Canadians often do not realize is that Canada also legislates on the basis of international pressure on it. Such is the case with recent amendments to the Income Tax Act and the Canada Business Corporations Act, which require the disclosure of the otherwise hidden beneficiaries of assets or transactions. We ...
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March 19, 2019 / Adam Aptowitzer, Charities - Current Articles, corporations, FATF, transparency
Changes in Ontario to Director Remuneration
On April 1, 2018, Ontario Regulation 112/18 came into effect amending O. Reg. 4/01 (Approved Acts of Executors and Trustees, hereinafter “Regulation”) [i] under the Charities Accounting Act (the “CAA”).  The new provisions modify the existing Ontario common law rule that prohibited a charity from making payments to a director (or any person related to him/her) for any reason (other than reimbursement of expenses) without first obtaining a court order. Prior to this charities in ...
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December 3, 2018 / Articles, Charities - Current Articles, Charities Accounting Act, Director Payment, director remuneration, Drache Aptowitzer LLP, Karen Cooper, Ontario Regulation 112/18, Ontario regulations, payment to directors
Fall Economic Update Addresses Sectoral Issues
The economic statement tabled by Finance Minister Morneau on November 22 had a couple of welcome announcements which will touch on at least certain parts of the sector. But there was very little detail available about implementation and we suspect that we’ll have to await the next federal Budget to get those details. The Social Finance Fund To encourage innovative approaches to persistent and complex social challenges, the Government is creating a Social Finance Fund ...
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December 3, 2018 / Arthur Drache, Articles, charitable sector, Charities - Current Articles, community improvement projects, Drache Aptowitzer LLP, economic update, fall economic update, social finance fund
Is the OPTrust Select pension plan right for your organization?
There has been a lot of concern over whether Canadians are saving enough for retirement. One reaction to this is the gradual enhancement of the Canadian Pension Plan, which starts in 2019. Another is the new defined benefits pension plan for the Ontario nonprofit sector, OPTrust Select, which was launched April 2018. OPTrust Select is run by a legal trust which exists at arm's length from both the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) and ...
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November 28, 2018 / Articles, Charities - Current Articles, Drache Aptowitzer LLP, Lex Klombies, non-profit benefit plan, Ontario nonprofit pension plan, OPTrust Select, pension plan
An Update in the Political Activities Saga
Those that have been following the political activities saga will be happy to know that after years of promises, a court case, a blue ribbon Panel, and some annoying dithering the Federal Government has finally tabled legislation in Parliament to allow charities to engage more fully in  ‘Political Activities’. In a previous article on this topic Political Activities…Revisited … Again we explored the history of the issue up to the release of proposed legislation in ...
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November 28, 2018 / Articles, Bill-C86, Charities - Current Articles, political activities, Ways and Means Motion
Relief of Poverty: Where are the Lines?
One of the clearest items of charity law is that action for the relief of poverty are considered to be charitable.[1] But the ongoing problem for many charities is to try to identify an income level which can be used as a measure of who is poor. This is not always an easy task as most guides dealing with this issue are simplistic in the extreme, not usable in many situations. For example, some years ...
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November 28, 2018 / Arthur Drache, Articles, Charities - Current Articles, legislation, poverty line, poverty measure, Releif of Poverty
Are You An Organization Lobbyist?
Much has been written about the recent court case and the subsequent proposed Income Tax Act amendments concerning political activities of registered charities.  Organizations that are not registered charities but just non-profit organizations, may have not given the issue much thought as all, except perhaps, pause to consider if the perceived relaxation of political activities for charities might open the door for charitable registration to non-profit organizations that would not have qualified before.  The answer ...
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October 22, 2018 / Alberta Lobbyist Act, Articles, Charities - Current Articles, lobbies, lobbiest, lobbying
CRA Delays Explained
Along with tax professionals all over Canada, Drache Aptowitzer LLP has noticed the increasing processing delays in every department of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). The backlog can be extreme. In the last three years, the processing time for charitable applications may have as much as doubled. And there have been similar delays in resolving even minor tax disputes. We know this backlog at the CRA is frustrating to our clients. Many of our clients’ ...
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October 19, 2018 / Articles, Charities - Current Articles, CRA Delays, Miscellaneous, Streamlining, Tax
Horses for Courses
One of the most important aspects of operating a non-profit is to have a board which can give direction to the organization. Without being comprehensive in terms of board duties, it must set policy, manage investments, handle personnel issues, raise funds and make strategic decisions, both long term and short term. But it should be pointed out that every board need not deal with every issue. A fully funded organization need not worry about fundraising ...
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October 19, 2018 / Arthur Drache, Articles, board compositions, Board of Directors, Charities - Current Articles, Non Profit Board, operating non profit
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
Readers of a certain age will recall the damage and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the United States in August 2005.  In the aftermath of the Hurricane the levees in New Orleans broke and flooded much of the city.  The damaged areas were primarily the poorer parishes of New Orleans which mean that those most affected by the hurricane were of low income. There was a great deal ...
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October 19, 2018 / Adam Aptowitzer, Articles, Brad Pitt, Charities - Current Articles, charities responsibilities, duty of care, Hurricane Katrina, liability insurance, make it right
TCC Clarifies “child care expenses” in Kwan
Kids are expensive. There’s no doubt about that. The Canadian government provides a small subsidy by allowing a limited amount of child care expenses to be deducted from income taxes. In 2016, Mr. Kwan had a 10-year-old and a 12-year-old. He and his spouse enrolled their kids in a large number of activities, including chess programs, math tutoring classes, Chinese language classes, a ski class, and a summer camp. The couple also hired multiple babysitters ...
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October 19, 2018 / Articles, Charities - Current Articles, child care expenses, Drache Aptowitzer LLP, Kwan, Lex Klombies, Tax Court of Canada
Changes to Criteria for Gifts of Cultural Property
A recent Court decision and the response to the decision by the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board (“CCPERB”) have significantly impacted the criteria that certain donations have to meet in order to qualify as cultural gifts within the meaning of the definition in subsection 118.1(1) of the Income Tax Act (“ITA”). In mid-June, the Federal Court of Justice issued its decision in Heffel Gallery Limited v. The Attorney General of Canada, 2018 FC 605 ...
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September 18, 2018 / Articles, Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board, Changes to Gift Criteria, Charities - Current Articles, Cultural Property, Drache Aptowitzer LLP, Heffel, Karen Cooper
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