Charities and Their Employees Can Benefit From Motor Vehicle Deductions 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 expenses under certain circumstances. Many charities are […]
Supporting Syrian Refugees: Public Benefit or Private Benevolence 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 charities that may, or may not, already have […]
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 assets in case of an […]
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 example, if a donor gives […]
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 the taxes owing from the […]
Why some charities lost their status in 2015. 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 issue official donation receipts and is no longer eligible to […]
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 been concerned about what changes […]
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, I was disappointed as it seemed that not much […]
October 17, 2014 was a critical date for federally incorporated not-for-profit corporations and charities. That was the date by which corporations were required to adopt and file articles of continuance under the new Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act. Failure to have filed for continuance now places those corporations that have not filed and received certificates at […]
Various charities and non-profit organizations are eligible for a rebate on the sales tax they pay in the process of providing certain types of goods and services (“supplies”). This is called the Public Service Body rebate, and its percentage depends on the nature of the organization and its activities. Most charities qualify for a 50% […]