REVOCATIONS! Every once in a while the Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency sends out a news release with details about a Charity that has had its charitable status revoked. It is interesting to compare the revocations the CRA widely publicizes in this way and the ones they do not. A quick search of […]
Maiden Voyage for the New Political Communication Rules By: Brent Randall With the recent provincial election in Quebec, an upcoming election in British Columbia, and speculation that Ontario may do the same, charities across Canada may be considering the impact they can make in the political arena. While we previously wrote that Budget 2012 maintained […]
Non-Profits and Taxable Subsidiaries By Arthur B.C. Drache, C.M. Q.C. Tax planning for tax exempt entities often involves the creation of “sibling” or controlled taxable corporations. Properly executed, the created corporations can carry on activities which are either prohibited to the parent or carry some risk that the parent is not willing to undertake directly. […]
In Incentive Lies Behaviour – If You Understand the Incentive By: Adam Aptowitzer Most Canadians are aware of the effect that RRSP contributions have on their taxes, and are aware of the deadline for making contributions each year. This is mostly due to the educational efforts of the banks and others that ‘sell’ RRSPs make […]
Drawing the Line on the CNCA’s Financial Requirements The new Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (“CNCA”) introduces a quagmire of financial rules based on two new class divisions that interact in inexplicable ways. This head-scratching setup will likely leave smaller federally-incorporated charities wondering where exactly they fall in terms of important auditing requirements. Although the answer […]
Donation of Intellectual Property Rights Can Be Controversial By Brent Randall Intellectual property rights, which include trade-marks, copyrights and patents, are frequently transferred or licensed between parties. Generally, ownership of intellectual property allows the owner to profit by way of royalties, licensing fees or sale of the rights. The right to profit from intellectual property […]
Unanimous Members’ Agreements: A New Era in Not-for-Profit Management The new Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act makes a general attempt to regulate not-for-profit corporations in a manner similar to the Canada Business Corporations Act. As part of this vision, it allows non soliciting corporation (generally those that are not supported with public funds) to enter into […]
Santa’s Philanthropy Santa considers himself to be a Canadian resident for income tax purposes. He grumbles and files his income tax return like everybody else. One of his new elves used to be an accountant who left it all behind to be an elf. He has looked at Santa’s income tax returns for the past […]
Tough Ruling in Non-Profit Distribution to Members By Arthur Drache C.M., Q.C. A recent ruling letter[1] from the CRA takes a fairly hard line on the distribution to members, a position which in our view can certainly be disputed. The following is the fact situation. A non-profit organization provides, among other services, internet services to […]
Fundraising by Charities – CRA does not mean Business The CRA has not changed its position on fundraising by charities. The new and improved Fundraising by Registered Charities Guidance, CG-013 issued by the CRA on April 20, 2012, is still their last word on the subject. However, some charities still need to be reminded that […]