Holy Alpha and Omega Church of Toronto - PartII - CRA wins case on injunction, direction and control

In an earlier blog (http://www.globalphilanthropy.ca/index.php/blog/comments/holy_alpha_and_omega_church_of_toronto_case_-_fraudulent_tax_receipts/) I had noted the case of Holy Alpha and Omega Church of Toronto.  The Federal Court of Appeal heard the matter in September 2009 and here is the decision http://decisions.fca-caf.gc.ca/en/2009/2009fca265/2009fca265.html  The case involved a charity that CRA alleged was not complying with a number of requirements for a registered charity including but not limited to:  they did not maintain adequate books and records;  they did not have an agreement with a foreign intermediary over substantial amounts of funds sent to Ghana and therefore could not show that they had “direction and control” over their own resources; and they did not maintain proper control over tax receipts and a large number were missing.

William Harper’s “Some Top CRA Compliance Issues”

Here is an article at Imagine Canada’s website on “Some Top CRA Compliance Issues” by William Harper http://nonprofitrisk.imaginecanada.ca/files/insuranceinfo/en/publications/bill_harper_sept_2009.pdf

Preparing your Canadian Registered Charity for a CRA Audit

If you anticipate that your charity is going to be audited by the Charities Directorate of CRA you may wish to review my article Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Audits and Canadian Registered Charities at http://www.globalphilanthropy.ca/images/uploads/Canadian_Charities_and_Audits_by_the_Canada_Revenue_Agency.pdf  Here is a copy of an example of a Required Information and Documentation Letter from CRA which gives you an idea of some of the information that the CRA may initially request.

CCCC Submission on CRA Consultation on the Proposed Guidance on Activities Outside of Canada

The Canadian Council of Christian Charities (CCCC) has provided their submission to the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) on the CRA’s proposed guidance on foreign activities (the “CRA Consultation on the Proposed Guidance on Activities Outside of Canada for Canadian Registered Charities”).  The CCCC is an umbrella organization of over 3,000 member charities and you can find their response at: http://www.cccc.org/releases/2009-09-22-CCCC_Response.pdf

To read the consultation document go to: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/chrts/plcy/cnslttns/ccrc-eng.html

Famine in Eastern and Sub-Saharan Africa

A number of NGOs have tried to spotlight the famine in Eastern and Sub-Saharan Africa and CIDA has just committed further funds to the problem.  Here is an article by Kevin McCort of CARE Canada http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/opinion/article/789516 “We must make famine in Africa personal”.  The Humanitarian Coalition has described it as a “perfect storm” at http://www.thehumanitariancoalition.ca/ 

Third Canadian Conference on Social Enterprise in Toronto

Here is some information on the Third Canadian Conference on Social Enterprise in Toronto in November.

Canadian charities and fundraising contracts - factors to consider before signing

The Ontario Public Guardian and Trustee has produced a charity bulletin entitled Charitable Fundraising: Tips for Directors and Trustees.  In that bulletin they list in “Appendix A: Factors to Consider Before Signing a Fundraising Contract”. 

CRA supports additional charitable organizations’ innovative educational and training projects

The CRA has announced contribution funding for eight new projects under the Charities Partnership and Outreach Program (CPOP).  One of the announced projects will be handled by the Ontario Community Support Association under its Charity Law Information Program (CLIP).  The CLIP project announced today has two aspects.  First, to educate Canadian charities about the requirement of gifting only to other qualified donees.  This affects Canadian charities who transfer resources to organizations that are not qualified donees, whether such organizations are inside Canada or outside Canada (foreign activities). It will emphasize the importance of having proper structured arrangements with local and foreign intermediaries (agents, partners, contractors etc)  The second part of the project is to increase the financial management capacity of the charitable sector and to avoid misuse of charities assets including with fraud, money laundering, terrorism and excessive private benefit.  For more information see http://www.capacitybuilders.ca/clip/clip.php

Ten Most Useful Features of the Canada Revenue Agency’s Charity Directorate Website

In this article I wrote for the Charity law information program it discusses the Ten Most Useful Features of the Canada Revenue Agency’s Charity Directorate Website for Charities.  If you have not recently visited the site you might find that CRA has added a lot of practical and easy to understand information for charities.

Charity Law Information Program (CLIP) Toronto workshops on charity law and risk management Oct 6/09

I will be delivering two workshops in Toronto on October 6, 2009 for the Charity Law Information Program (CLIP) of CapacityBuilders.  For further information see the Toronto Brochure and registration information for CLIP.

OCSA 2009 Great !deas Conference in Toronto - strategic planning, social enterprise speakers

The main page for the OCSA 2009 Conference is at http://www.ocsa.on.ca/Conference/2009/index.html  The program is at http://www.ocsa.on.ca/Conference/2009/program.html  I thought I would highlight a few interesting speakers namely Seb Elsworth, from the UK Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations(ACEVO) who will be discussing “Business Development: $ and Sense of Building Your Business”.  As well, Robert (Bob) Harrington, MSW/LCSW, of La Piana Consulting based in California will be talking about “Real Time Strategic Planning within a Constantly Changing Environment”.  Cynthia Armour will also be talking about the board’s role in fundraising and also fundraising in hard times.  Far less interesting, I will be talking about top 15 charity legal compliance risks.  There will also be a number of presentations on pandemic preparedness.

CRA provides commentary on Gifts to Certain Charitable Organizations Outside Canada and IC84-3R5

CRA has provided some more detail on how organizations are included in Attachment to IC84-3R5, Gifts to Certain Charitable Organizations Outside Canada.  There are only about 5 organizations left on the list and perhaps this policy commentary will encourage the Canadian government, and especially CIDA and DFAIT, to consider adding a few more foreign charities to the list.

The Nonprofit Starvation Cycle in Stanford Social Innovation Review

This article entitled The Nonprofit Starvation Cycle at http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/the_nonprofit_starvation_cycle/ discusses “overhead” or “indirect expenses” and how various factors play in to charities not investing enough in infrastructure which results in less efficient organizations that cannot effectively serve their beneficiaries.  About a year ago I wrote an article encouraging Canadian charities to spend more on “overhead” and that article is at: http://www.globalphilanthropy.ca/index.php/blog/comments/how_much_should_canadian_charity_spend_on_overhead/

Canadian charities and holding shares of subsidiary corporation carrying on business

This CRA letter deals with “whether a charity’s status is at risk where the charity holds shares of a subsidiary corporation carrying on a business involving rental and sale of real estate”

Canadian charities and intermediate sanctions by the Canada Revenue Agency

It used to be that if a registered charity was non-compliant CRA either revoked the charity or could do little about the non-compliance.  The times have changed.  With the introduction of “intermediate sanctions” CRA now has lots more flexibility in how it deals with non-compliance.  For example if you issue a receipt that contains false information CRA can fine the charity 125% on the eligible amount stated on the receipt.  If a Canadian charity working with a foreign charity (or other non-qualified donee) does not maintain direction and control over transfers of funds and resources then such behaviour can land a charity with a 105%-$110% penalty on the amount of the transfer.  Ouch!.