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 […]
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 […]
Back to School: A New World for Foreign Universities
By: Adam Aptowitzer For many years the Income Tax Act contained a method by which certain foreign universities could attain ‘qualified donee’ status in Canada. That standing effectively amounted to being a Canadian registered charity. This allowed Canadian donors a tax credit for donations to these schools, and for Canadian charities to transfer funds directly […]
Crisis Averted
By: Adam Aptowitzer In our review of Budget 2018, we made some comments related to the concept of prescribed universities. Readers may recall that the Income Tax Act has, for many years, contained an allowance that certain foreign universities would be considered as qualified donees in Canada (akin to registered charities) if they met certain […]
Demystifying Joint Ventures
By: Adam Aptowitzer Readers of this newsletter will easily recall that charities must maintain control and direction over all of their funds, particularly on projects outside of Canada’s borders. Typically, where the Canadian charity is supplying 100% of the funds, yet working with a foreign intermediary, the relationship is structured as a principal/agent relationship. However, […]
Do your subcontracting agreements adequately allocate risk?
by: Sylvie Lalonde Recent litigation relating to an insurer’s obligation to defend an additional insured under a Commercial General Liability (CGL) policy serves as a useful reminder that organizations should carefully review how they transfer or allocate risk when entering into service agreements with subcontractors. A common way for organizations to mitigate risk when retaining […]
Voluntary Disclosure and the difference between non-profits and registered charities
By: C. Yvonne Chenier, Q.C. In the legal profession, we know what to do if we have made a mistake. Those that regulate us (Law Societies across the country) remind us about our professional obligations, how to control the damage and the importance of seeking help as soon as a mistake is discovered. So, what […]
Issuing Receipts: What’s A Charity’s Obligation?
By: Arthur Drache Towards the end of last year the CRA “published” an on-line video dealing with the question of “who the true donor of a gift is”.[1] We found is moderately interesting but nowhere nearly comprehensive if one were to judge by the questions we often get. We regularly are asked questions by charities […]
Function and Form
By: Adam Aptowitzer A recent decision of the Tax Court illustrates a concept whose importance is only matched by the universality to which it is ignored. The case of Lichtman involved a number of Orthodox Rabbis teaching at an Orthodox Jewish school in Vancouver. The Rabbis claimed what is known as the “Clergy Residence Deduction” […]
Proper Receipts and Credible Claims for Tax Benefit
By: Kara Johnson When average Canadian taxpayers pay attention to the receipts issued to them by Canadian charities to which they have donated, it is probably for two reasons: to ensure they actually have them all in hand at tax filing time, and to identify the dollar amounts therein so that they can put them […]