Charities Directorate Releases Three Positions Via Web
Adam Aptowitzer, January 31, 2010
On Issuing Receipts to Other Registered Charities

One of the questions which we field most often from growing charities is whether the charity should issue official donation tax receipts to other registered charities (generally foundations) from which they receive grants. While the answer may have been clear for some time, the Charities Directorate has recently published their position on the issue.

The official position is that Charities should not issue tax receipts to granting foundations. (Note that there is no discussion of the actual technical legal issues).

The usefulness of the release is not so much in the information it provides, but rather that it sets out the CRA’s position in black and white. This should serve to clarify many disputes in the sector once and for all.

The guidance is available at: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/chrts/prtng/gfts/rgstrd-chrts-eng.html?rss

Specified Gifts and Ten Year Gifts

The CRA also issued webpage guidance on specified gifts and ten year gifts. Again, neither of these sheds any new light on the issue but rather explains the basic concepts involved. The danger in this of course, is that charities may assume that the guidance represents all there is to know on the subject. As usual, we urge our readers to consult qualified legal counsel on this complicated issue.

The specified gift webpage is here: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/chrts/prtng/gfts/spcfgft-eng.html and the ten year gift page is here: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/chrts/prtng/gfts/10gft-eng.html.