Those with long memories in the charity sector will recall that the voluntary sector initiative of the 1990’s promoted the introduction of sanctions for offences that were less than revocation. It also advocated that appeals of these sanctions be heard by the Tax Court, and hoped that before long a body of case law would […]
This Just In: New Report Recognizes that Not All Charities are Bad Actors. Now someone tell the banks.
We have written before about the risks posed to Canadian charities from the international movement of financial institutions towards “de-risking”. De-risking is the response of these institutions to the movement by the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) and its related partner entities to force financial institutions to aid in the fight against money laundering and […]
An Ounce of Prevention
As lawyers, we are often contacted when a dispute arises amongst members of an association. Inevitably, the dispute will devolve into a review of the legality of the actions of one or both sides. Given that most associations are corporations, there are, in fact, laws which must be followed in order that the authority of […]
Charities – Part of the Great Underbanked?
Every so often the media reports that there are people in the world who do not have access to banking services, the so-called “underbanked”. For those of us in Canada, it is almost impossible to imagine such a situation, given the ubiquity of our banks and the plethora of services that they offer. However, for […]
Retail Therapy for Governments
Retail Therapy for Governments by: Adam Aptowitzer Pre-election budgets can be predictable in their spending, but in certain circumstances budgets are predictable because they spend. Budget 2019 falls into this unusual class of retail therapy because government revenues are pouring in yet this is a pre-election budget (and this is a Liberal government). Consequently, extra revenues […]
Nothing is More Opaque than Absolute Transparency
Nothing is More Opaque than Absolute Transparency[1] By: Adam Aptowitzer It is no secret that Canada often legislates on the basis of its international commitments. What Canadians often do not realize is that Canada also legislates on the basis of international pressure on it. Such is the case with recent amendments to the Income Tax Act […]
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
Readers of a certain age will recall the damage and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the United States in August 2005. In the aftermath of the Hurricane the levees in New Orleans broke and flooded much of the city. The damaged areas were primarily the poorer parishes of […]
Political Activities…Revisited … Again
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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