Why Jurisdiction Matters to Corporate Finances: CNCA vs. ONCA By Alexandra Tzannidakis While Federal not-for-profit corporations are still adjusting to the new Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (CNCA), their Provincially-incorporated counterparts in Ontario are about to face a similar change when the Ontario Not-for-profit Corporations Act (ONCA) comes into force later this year. The two pieces […]
New Canadian Anti-Spam Laws on the Horizon By Alexandra Tzannidakis Back in 2010, Bill C-28 (Fighting Internet and Wireless Spam) was passed by Parliament and received royal assent. It was expected to come into force in 2012, but delays in drafting the regulations mean that 2012 has come and gone without a coming-into-force date having […]
New Hope For Taxpayers Caught in Charitable Donation Tax Shelter Schemes by Alexandra Tzannidakis In November 2012, the Tax Court of Canada added an interesting new twist to the epic story of Canada Revenue Agency versus tax shelters with its decision in Berg v The Queen. The story is an old one. Every year, many […]
Why Every Charity Should Consider Incorporation by Alexandra Tzannidakis Before a group can be registered as a charity, there has to actually be some legal thing to register. This means that every charity faces the choice of which legal structure to use. A charity can be constituted as a trust, an unincorporated association, or a […]
Non-Profit Organizations and the Income Accumulation Minefield By Alexandra Tzannidakis Under section 149(1)(l) of the Income Tax Act, entities that meet the definition of a “non-profit organization” (NPO) are exempt from paying federal income tax. The section defines an NPO as a club, society or association that is not a charity but is organized and […]
Getting on Board with the CNCA By Alexandra Tzannidakis You may have heard this already, but apparently it bears repeating: All charities and non-profit organizations incorporated under Part II of the Canada Corporations Act need to actively ‘continue’ to the new Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act if they wish to stay in business. The new Act […]
Dealing with Fraudulent Donations By Alexandra Tzannidakis There is a great deal of information available for individuals on how to avoid donating to a fraudulent or otherwise problematic charity. But the donor-donee relationship goes two ways: what happens when a charity receives a donation that turns out to be fraudulent in some way? You may […]
How Not to Choose a Charity: The Folly of Overhead Ratios By Alexandra Tzannidakis To the ongoing despair of the non-profit sector, the number one criterion that potential donors use in selecting a charity continues to be the ominous “overhead ratio”. In the face of all the information available to them about their options, donors […]
Books and Records for Charities: Part I (An Introduction) By Alexandra Tzannidakis The failure to maintain books and records is ground for suspension of a charity’s tax-receipting privileges. Such a suspension can translate into the loss of big donations. This article is the first in a series on what “books and records” means and how […]
Books and Records For Charities: Part III (What to Do about Missing Records) By Alexandra Tzannidakis The failure to maintain books and records is ground for suspension of a charity’s tax-receipting privileges. Such a suspension can translate into the loss of big donations. This article is the last in a three-part series on what “books […]