The wrong words in a document such as a will, or an estate administration misunderstanding in today’s legislative environment could cause problems for charities. Although I was one of the early members of the planned giving “allied professionals” network in the 1990’s and have spoken at many conferences and workshops about planned giving since then, […]
The Income Tax Act provides favorable treatment for gifts of ecologically sensitive land, and partial interests in land through the Ecological Gifts Program (EGP). This treatment includes an elimination of taxable capital gains realized on the disposition of ecologically sensitive land and the provision of a tax credit or a deduction to donors available for […]
Even the most seasoned volunteer directors are advised to familiarize themselves with the rules under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (CNCA). While this brief article only covers certain aspects of the law governing federal not-for-profits, it does highlight a few important aspects in the lifecycle of a board member. ACT I – BECOMING A DIRECTOR […]
GST/HST is a complicated enough topic in general, but for charities the rules are different again. This means that even if you have someone on the board who is familiar with the GST/HST basics, your charity may still not be navigating the system correctly or to its maximum advantage. This article lays out the general […]
By Adam Aptowitzer The current conflagration about charities and their involvement in political advocacy is focused on worries about whether the law is being fairly applied to all organizations. Specifically organizations with a perspective contrary to the current government’s policies feel that they are the subject of a conspiracy. In some cases, particularly for charities […]
By Arthur B.C. Drache, CM, QC The CRA recently published its response1 to a letter asking about the treatment of “gift cards” which apparently were received by an individual from a charity…though details were not given. But while the answer probably was not of a lot of help to the individual, the response did set out […]
By Adam Aptowitzer Volunteering for a charity can be a rewarding way to help out in the community but it can bring with it a number of legal responsibilities. Legal responsibility is often assigned on the basis of the role an individual serves within an organization. Volunteering, though, can muddy the waters about the position […]
On the heels of Jian Ghomeshi’s firing from the CBC and the suspension of two Liberal MPs from caucus, Canadians are talking about sexual harassment. Although not a topic that is typically associated with the philanthropic sector, charities and non-profits are not immune from dealing with these types of issues. In fact, we were recently […]
By Arthur B.C. Drache CM QC It is more for the record that we report on the most recent failure of an organization to get registered as a charity and to have that rejection upheld by the Federal Court of Appeal. The organization, Humanics Institute,1 despite knowing that it has been more than a decade since […]
In the public mind, the idea of tax credits for giving to ‘good causes’ sometimes leads to confusion and conflation of charitable tax credits and political tax credits. The truth is that charities and political causes are legally very distinct concepts (there is no such thing as a political charity) and although an individual can […]