New Hope For Taxpayers Caught in Charitable Donation Tax Shelter Schemes 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 Canadian taxpayers are […]
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Feeling Duped into Donating: Can You Be Protected? By Brent Randall At his pinnacle, Lance Armstrong was one of the most famous athletes in the world and the most dominant professional cyclist ever. His popularity at the time, and his personal story of overcoming cancer, inspired many to contribute to the charity he founded, the […]
Charitable Receipting Can be a Charity’s Achilles Heel By Adam Aptowitzer In Greek mythology Achilles was a Greek hero of the Trojan War. Although mortal when born, the goddess Thetis tried to make him immortal by dipping him in the river Styx. Ostensibly to ensure he did not drown, she held him by the heel […]
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T-3010: Mounting Complexity for Charities By Arthur Drache In the olden days, say a dozen or so years ago when the Voluntary Sector Initiative was still underway one of the objects was to simplify the annual report requirements for registered charities. Indeed, serious discussions were held about either exempting small charities altogether or devising a […]
The Friction Factor An American suffragist (Frances E. Willard, 1839-1898) apparently once said: “The world is wide, and I will not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum”. I am not sure exactly what she was referring to but she could easily have meant what some philanthropic clients refer to […]
Predicting 2013: Thoughts About the Upcoming for Charities By: Adam Aptowitzer In the past we have sworn off predicting developments relating to the charity sector, but 2013 is somewhat different in that several projects that were begun earlier can be expected to mature in the coming 12 months. And so, with more confidence than in […]
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REVOCATIONS! Every once in a while the Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency sends out a news release with details about a Charity that has had its charitable status revoked. It is interesting to compare the revocations the CRA widely publicizes in this way and the ones they do not. A quick search of […]
Maiden Voyage for the New Political Communication Rules By: Brent Randall With the recent provincial election in Quebec, an upcoming election in British Columbia, and speculation that Ontario may do the same, charities across Canada may be considering the impact they can make in the political arena. While we previously wrote that Budget 2012 maintained […]
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Bylaws: Who Needs ‘Em By: Adam Aptowitzer The ongoing changeover of Federal corporations to the Canada Not for Profit Corporations Act is raising interesting questions about the bylaws that may have been used by a corporation since its inception. (It bears mentioning that the same questions arise in the context of Ontario non share capital […]
By Adam Aptowitzer The firestorm of media attention which has resulted from the Conservative changes to funding for political activity is astonishing given the relatively small impact of these changes. More to the point the media almost never comments on changes affecting the sector, even when those changes are both expansive and arguably unconstitutional. One […]