CRA Revamping Charities Listing with Charity Quick View - get ready before it is too late!

The CRA has sent notices to registered charities announcing that in August 2012 the Charities Directorate will introducing “Charity Quick View”.  Here is a copy of the CRA announcement entitled “Introducing Charity Quick View” in English and French.  Currently one can access data on all registered charities at http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/haip/srch/advancedsearch-eng.action  The information currently is not that easy to access and understand.  After August 2012 charities and donors will be able to access a better and more graphical user interface.  What should charities do?  First keep on filing your T3010.  Second, make sure the T3010 filing is accurate.  Third, check out Imagine Canada’s Charity Focus to see if there are mistakes in your previous T3010 filings at http://www.charityfocus.ca  Fourth, if you notice any mistakes then fill out a T1240 Registered Charity Adjustment Request (http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/t1240/t1240-10e.pdf) so that CRA can change your filing before the Charity Quick View is launched.  It is very important that T3010 returns are accurate in the last Federal Budget there is a provision for suspending a charity’s receipting function if it files an incomplete or innaccurate T3010. 

Here is the text of the notice:

The Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) Charities Listings is getting a makeover. Here is what you need to know about the new Charity Quick View and how it will display your charity’s information.

What is Charity Quick View?

In August 2012, the CRA will introduce Charity Quick View, an innovative online resource that will build on the information currently on the Charities Listings. Charity Quick View willl make it easier for both charities and donors to read and understand the information a charity reports on its Form T3010,
Registered Charity lnformation Retum.

The CRA will pull information from the T3010 to highlight your charity’s:
• activities;
• amounts and sources of revenue; and
• expenditures, including salaries and other benefits.

How will it be different from the Charities Listings?

While the information you sent on the T3010 will remain the same on our Web site, the way some of the information is displayed will change. Charity Quick View Will use graphs and tables to show key information at a glance. The new display will begin to apply to returns filed in 2010.

How will this affect you?

Charity Quick View will be a helpful resource for donors. Charity Quick View does not require any change in what and when you file the T3010 with the CRA. With more Canadians using Charity Quick View for information about charities, we encourage you to:

• file the T3010 on time;
• make sure that the data reported in yom charity’s T3010 is accurate;
• visit the CRA Charities Listings at http://www.cra.gc.ca/charitylists and review the information we have posted about your charity to make sure that it is correct; and
• if you find any errors, ask us to correct the return by completing Form T1240, Registered Charity Adjustment Request, which can be found on our Web site. 

We offer Webinars and Charities Information Sessions where you can ask our representatives questions about filing the T3010. For more information, go to http://www.cra.gc.ca/charities or call us at 1-800-267-2384.”