Mar 2019 Charity & NFP Law Update
New Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector Announced
In a news release dated March 7, 2019, the Minister of National Revenue, the Honourable Diane Lebouthillier, announced the nomination of Hilary Pearson and Bruce MacDonald as co-chairs of the newly formed permanent Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector (“ACCS”). The ACCS was first announced in the 2018 Fall Economic Statement, discussed in Charity & NFP Law Bulletin No. 435, and is described as a “consultative forum for the Government of Canada to engage in meaningful dialogue with the charitable sector, to advance emerging issues relating to charities, and to ensure the regulatory environment supports the important work that charities do.”
The ACCS is committed to engaging with the charitable sector through meaningful dialogue with charities, and will provide recommendations to the Minister of National Revenue (“MNR”) and the Commissioner of the Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) on important and emerging issues that charities and other qualified donees face. The ACCS will meet a minimum of twice per year, and will provide ongoing reports to the MNR and Commissioner of the CRA.
Reminder to Update Receipts
As reported in the February 2018 Charity & NFP Law Update, charities and qualified donees will need to update their official donation receipts with the CRA’s new website URL in order to comply with section 3501(1)(j) of the Income Tax Regulations. This section requires that official donation receipts include the name and website of the CRA. Charities and qualified donees will have until March 31, 2019 to update their receipts from the CRA’s previous www.cra-arc.gc.ca URL to the CRA’s more recent www.canada.ca/charities-giving URL. Since failure to issue a receipt in accordance with the Income Tax Regulations can be grounds for revocation, it will be important for charities to ensure that their receipts are in compliance.