Canadians are well used to attending at various tribunals, boards, and panels. The assumption is that the decision makers at these bodies are subject to certain rules to ensure that they operate fairly and come to decisions that are applied legally. Parliament and the various provincial legislatures have set up these quasi-courts to take advantage […]
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 […]
Reporting Foreign Assets and Income to the Tax Man
By: Alexandra Tzannidakis Whether you have suddenly inherited a bank account overseas, or have owned foreign real estate for years, Canada requires you to report your foreign assets and income on your annual federal tax returns. Many people are wary of this portion of their return, thinking to themselves: why do they want to know? […]
Rectifying Rectification – The Supreme Court Goes Back to Basics in Fairmont Hotels
By: Adam Aptowitzer The recent Supreme Court of Canada decision in Canada v. Fairmont Hotels Inc.[1] is of interest to the entire legal community but of perhaps particular importance in the tax world. The case dealt with the concept of rectification – usually only examined in detail in the first year of law school. Rectification […]
Third Party Fundraising
By Arthur B.C. Drache, CM, QC A ruling letter issued early in 2015[1] by the CRA dealing with third-party fundraising offers nothing particularly new in the way of interpretation but does offer a bit of clarification. The question posed seemed to be by an official of a charity who was questioning situations where a third-party raised funds […]
Erosion of the Alberta Advantage
By C. Yvonne Chenier, QC Since 2007 Albertans have enjoyed what has been dubbed by some a “Super Credit” for donations to their favourite charities. In the spirit of generosity in 2007, the Alberta Government enhanced the tax credit to 21% from 12.75% on total annual donations over $200. Combining this with the Federal Tax […]
Crowdfunding: New Challenges to Old Tax Policies
By Alexandra Tzannidakis The internet seems to constantly be evolving new uses, not to mention new additions to the lexicon. A popular concept recently has been ‘crowdfunding’, in which people bypass traditional methods of accessing funding for a project by using the internet to make a direct appeal to the public. This strategy has been […]
What Can a Non-Profit Organization Pay Out to its Members?
By Alexandra Tzannidakis A recent CRA ruling conveniently breaks down some of the rules about how a non-profit organization (NPO) may distribute its assets on dissolution. In this discussion, an NPO is specifically the kind of tax-exempt entity defined in paragraph 149(1)(l) of the Income Tax Act: one that is not a ‘charity’, but is […]
New CRA Ruling on Making Loans to Foundations
New CRA Ruling on Making Loans to Foundations By Alexandra Tzannidakis, LL.B. In July of this year, the CRA issued a ruling around making loans to charitable foundations. The ruling was requested by a taxable corporation that had set up its own foundation, a registered charity. The corporation wanted to know what the tax consequence […]
HST and Sponsorships for Charities
By Karen J. Cooper Charities are often unsure whether soliciting and accepting corporate sponsorships requires them to collect and remit HST, similar to the for-profit sector. The following article discusses how HST affects charities, and specifically how HST affects charities that solicit sponsorship money. It is important to note from the outset of this article […]
