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:

One of Canada’s foremost journalists and commentators on public policy shared his insights with attendees on the first day of the 2015 Distinguished Advisor Conference (DAC) in a thought-provoking session in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Jeffrey Simpson, national affairs columnist for The Globe and Mail, spoke in detail about the age of dis-intermediation and what that means for advisors.

Philip Petursson, Managing Director of Manulife Asset Management’s Portfolio Advisory Group, encouraged attendees at the 2015 Distinguished Advisor Conference (DAC) to think differently about portfolio management. He asserted that, in an attempt to serve clients and build value by customizing portfolios, advisors are following an approach that is actually inefficient and unproductive.

It’s hard to believe that back in 1980, Canadians’ debt to disposable income level was 66%; today it is 164%, which means that households today owe more than $1.64 for every dollar of disposable income. That’s a big problem if job loss is in the future and, therefore, should be a topic of conversation for those working in industries suffering downturns and in retirement planning conversations.

It’s official:  The Distinguished Advisor Conference (DAC) will be held November 6-9, 2016 in San Diego, and Knowledge Bureau’s Annual January Personal Tax Bootcamp is set to begin January 20 to 25, 2016 across Canada.  Registrants are urged to reserve their spots early and take advantage of early bird tuition reductions until December 15, 2015.

Last week, Alberta’s new NDP government brought down their first provincial budget.

On November 2, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced the maximum pensionable earnings under the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) for 2016 will be $54,900. That is up from $53,600 in 2015.