Revenue Canada Crackdown on Charities
The Toronto Star credits it’s own investigation which goes back as far as 2002 for Canada Revenue’s long-overdue crackdown on charity rules, “problems that its [the Agency's] own auditors knew too well” (’Charity rules beefed up‘; Toronto Star; 2007/12/21).
The Star reports that “the regulator is suspending and shutting down renegade charities; making public a list of serious problems in the 82,000 agency sector; and coming out with clear-cut rules that will for the first time force charities to stop calling fundraising expenses ‘good works.’ “
One huge problem is the tax-shelter practise of some charities that encourage potential donors to give money in return for inflated tax receipts. “Typically, tax-shelter firms hook up with a little-known charity that becomes a sort of tax receipt mill, suddenly writing millions of dollars in bogus receipts and making grandiose claims of saving the world.”
It’s nice to know that some newspapers haven’t cut back on their staff so much that they’re still capable of doing some investigative journalism.
Links:
2007/06/02 - Toronto Star: Charity scams bust public trust
2007/06/03 - Toronto Star: Great charities can be found, but it takes legwork
2007/06/10 - Toronto Star: Charitable sector needs policing
2007/09/29 - Toronto Star: $1.4B tax scams nail donors
2007/12/08 - Toronto Star: Charity suspension hits tax shelter profit
2007/12/11 - Toronto Star: Judge questions charity’s claims
2007/12/20 - Toronto Star: Giveaway of stock can keep taxes at bay
2007/12/21 - Toronto Star: Rogue charities raised millions
2007/12/21 - Toronto Star: Former church official faces charges
Tags: account, avoid, charity, consumer, investigate, investigation, journalism, Media, news, protect, receipt, regulate, report, tax
