International Pentecostal Ministry Fellowship of Toronto v. The Queen - (FCA) important case

In International Pentecostal Ministry Fellowship of Toronto v. The Queen (FCA) located at http://decisions.fca-caf.gc.ca/en/2010/2010fca51/2010fca51.html the Federal Court of Appeal confirmed CRA’s jurisdiction over Canadian charities registered under the Income Tax Act (Canada).  In quite a strongly worded statement the decision states “We have not been persuaded that there is any merit to the Appellant’s argument that the provisions of the ITA dealing with the registration and deregistration of charities are an unconstitutional infringement on provincial legislative authority. In our view, these provisions relate, in their pith and substance, to federal taxation, and accordingly they are intra vires the Parliament of Canada under subsection 91 (3) of the Constitution Act, 1867. Both the advantages of registration and the drawbacks of revocation relate solely to the tax treatment of charities and their donors. They do not impermissibly affect the affairs of charities in any other way, nor do they impede provinces from otherwise regulating charities.”  The court also rejected the charity’s argument that CRA by going to revocation did not follow its own guidance.  The court noted that CRA’s “decision falls squarely within the range of acceptable outcomes.” and that “it was reasonably open to the Minister to find the breaches sufficiently serious as to warrant revocation.”  This is important victory for charities and CRA in that it makes it clear that CRA can remove the charitable status of a sufficiently non-compliant charity. The public in Canada expects CRA as a regulator to regulate and sometimes that means removing the registered charitable status of groups that do not comply with the basic requirements of being a charity.  I would also commend the Federal Court of Appeal for the length of decision.  When a charity is making an argument that lacks “any merit” you don’t need a 20 page decision and a couple pages will do.