The issue of charities engaging in political activities has been a hot item since 2012. In that year the Harper Government gave $8 million to the CRA Charities Directorate to begin what has been termed the “political activity audits”. Budget 2012 also tightened up the political activity rules which were already in place. It is […]
Don’t take it literally-or should you?
By: C. Yvonne Chenier, Q.C. Recent Court cases have reinforced my belief in the importance of the wording of governing documents of charities and not-for-profits organizations. Whether it is trying to ascertain what the members have agreed to in the rules of membership, the specific procedures contained in bylaws or the actual wording of the […]
Wine(ing) About Donations
By: Adam Aptowitzer A recently released decision of the Tax Court of Canada illustrates some of the problems with donations of gifts in kind and their valuation. Donors typically accept the valuation on receipts as accurate. For donations of cash this is not a problem – particularly where the donation is one of cash. However, […]
Ontario Court Holds that Political Activities Restrictions Violates Charter Rights
By: Arthur Drache In mid-July, Mr. Justice Ed Morgan of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice determined that the Income Tax Act legislation and the CRA’s administrative practices relating to political activities of charities was contrary to the Charter of Rights when restrictions were applied to the (non-party partisan) political activities of charities.[1] The decision […]
Election-Time Refresher for Charities on ‘Political Activities’
By: Alexandra Tzannidakis With the Ontario general election coming up on June 7, registered charities should take a moment to review the restrictions on political activities. It is key to remember that registered charities are totally prohibited from engaging in partisan political activities. They can only engage in non-partisan political activities, and only to a limited extent. […]
An Update to the Tax Donation Rate Schedule
By: Adam Aptowitzer For many years tax and charity professionals calculated the after tax cost of a donation based on certain principles. One of those principles was that, at the top brackets both Federally and Provincially, the credit for the donation offset the tax owing for a dollar of income earned and then donated. As […]
CRA Comes to Lunch
By: C. Yvonne Chenier The title for the mid-day address of the Canadian Bar Association Charity Law Annual Symposium is usually the “CRA Comes to Lunch”. Lunch is served before we hear from the Director General, Charities Directorate, Canada Revenue Agency. At the May 11, 2018, Symposium, the morning sessions focussed on revisiting the meaning […]
Withholding of Tax on Donation of Shares Acquired Through Stock Option Exercises
The following question was asked of the CRA by the Tax Executive Institute in connection with its December 5, 2017 liaison meeting with CRA representatives. If the CRA is ultimately unwilling to provide the administrative concession described in the question below[1], would the Department of Finance be willing to consider a legislative amendment to the […]
An Ounce of Preparation
Floods and fires and tragic accidents keep hitting close to home in the West. Ice storms and power outages and horrific weather causing vehicle pile-ups are happening in the East. Any of these terrible events could involve volunteers, staff or service users of a charity or not-for-profit organization. As these incidents play out on national […]
Where is Promised Progress on Political Activity Rules?
Last week, 14 environmental charities met with Finance Minister Bill Morneau to discuss promised changes to the political activities restrictions on charities, and they appear to have come away worried. The federal Liberals campaigned in 2015 on a promise of reforming the stringent political activity limitations that had led to widespread audits of charities under […]
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