New Consultations: Modernizing Tax Rules for Charities

As the last remnants of a scrumptious Thanksgiving weekend subside, it is appropriate to take a look at the health and issues surrounding the charitable sector in Canada.  Serendipitously, the federal government is seeking your views on how the tax rules for registered charities and the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) administration of these rules could be modernized.  A new consultation was launched on October 8 and here’s what the government wants to know, by December 3, 2026:

Transitioning a business can be an emotional period of your life as an entrepreneur. True leaders, however, embrace the fact that businesses need succession plans and that sometimes these businesses can even outgrow the skills of the founder. Knowing when to let go is probably the hardest business decision you will make as a business but your trusted tax and financial advisors can help.

Late last week RBC lowered its fixed mortgage rate and it’s likely that the other big banks will soon follow suit. This gives Canadians more breathing room to get mortgage debt under control. The big question to consider is whether fixed or variable mortgages are right for you.

Tax season provides a trigger for advisors and their clients to have an important discussion: should the tax refund be used for debt reduction or savings? In some cases, the best strategy may be to do a little bit of both. But the big issue to uncover is whether taxpayers understand their credit health well enough.

Most people seem to understand that you can’t treat your business’ money as your own . . . or do they? How many small business owners expense personal items from the company general account? This can get you into trouble on a tax audit and worse; significantly erode personal wealth.

Beware the taxman, Uber drivers. The rise of the gig economy comes with its own unique challenges from a tax perspective, and an appeals case from Uber Canada Inc., currently with the Tax Court of Canada sheds light on the grey areas that exist.

It’s a potential administrative and tax filing nightmare. On January 15, the federal government introduced new draft legislation prompted by the debacle created by their Phoenix Payroll System. These changes are designed to reduce the burden on employees who are now required to repay amounts paid to them in error.