Donation of Flow-Through Shares By: Arthur Drache C.M., Q.C. A recent letter published by the CRA[1] offers a comprehensive view of the tax treatment of flow-through shares. By way of reminder, flow-through shares are special shares of mining and exploration companies designed to encourage investment in those sectors. Certain types of shares of qualifying companies […]
In Incentive Lies Behaviour – If You Understand the Incentive
In Incentive Lies Behaviour – If You Understand the Incentive By: Adam Aptowitzer Most Canadians are aware of the effect that RRSP contributions have on their taxes, and are aware of the deadline for making contributions each year. This is mostly due to the educational efforts of the banks and others that ‘sell’ RRSPs make […]
Donation of Intellectual Property Rights Can Be Controversial
Donation of Intellectual Property Rights Can Be Controversial By Brent Randall Intellectual property rights, which include trade-marks, copyrights and patents, are frequently transferred or licensed between parties. Generally, ownership of intellectual property allows the owner to profit by way of royalties, licensing fees or sale of the rights. The right to profit from intellectual property […]
Feeling Duped Into Donating
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 […]
New Hope For Taxpayers Caught in Charitable Donation Tax Shelter Schemes
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 […]
No Obligation for Charity to Issue a Receipt for a Gift
No Obligation for Charity to issue a Receipt for a Gift By Arthur Drache We have made the point in articles gone by that there is no obligation on a charity to issue a receipt for a gift though of course a refusal to do so would raise serious questions in the minds of donors […]
Virtual Currencies
Virtual Currencies: Implications for Charities By Brent Randall Virtual currencies, such as Bitcoin, have been steadily increasing in popularity. At the time of this writing, one Bitcoin is valued at nearly $90 CAD. While an explanation of the exact nature of Bitcoin is outside of our scope, what can be said with certainty is that […]
Employee Directed Gift to A Charity
Employee Directed Gift to a Charity by Arthur Drache Making a charitable donation in honour of or in memory of a third party is of course a common event. In such a case, the donor will normally get a receipt for tax purposes and the charity will arrange for the fact of the donation to […]
Dealing With Fraudulent Donations
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 […]
CRTs are Alive and Well
CRTs are alive and well in Canada. at least at the CRA Rulings Directorate C. Yvonne Chenier, Q.C. Over the past decade there have been many positive changes relating to the tax treatment of charitable donations such as the full capital gain exemption with regard to publicly traded securities. These changes, by all accounts, have […]