Perhaps it’s time some non-profits paid tax like everybody else

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Ever marvel what the distinction is between a non-profit group and a registered charity? The Canada Revenue Agency sums up the differences as follows:

“Registered charities are charitable organizations, public foundations, or personal foundations which can be created and resident in Canada. They need to use their assets for charitable actions and have charitable functions that fall into a number of of the next classes:

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• the reduction of poverty
• the development of training
• the development of faith
• different functions that profit the neighborhood

“Non-profit organizations are associations, golf equipment, or societies that aren’t charities and are organized and operated completely for social welfare, civic enchancment, pleasure, recreation, or some other function besides revenue.”

In different phrases, you may solely be an NPO or a registered charity, not each. Registered charities can situation helpful tax receipts to donors. NPOs can not. It may be a rigorous train to turn out to be a registered charity (and preserve such standing). Not so for NPOs.

What the 2 have in frequent is that each organizations don’t pay revenue tax on their receipts since they’re exempt from taxation underneath the Revenue Tax Act.

Such an exemption for NPOs has been round for the reason that introduction of the revenue tax statute in 1917. Little or no evaluation of that exemption has been accomplished since that point.

There have been about 134,000 active NPOs in Canada in 2020, in response to Statistics Canada information launched final 12 months, representing about 8.9 per cent of the nation’s gross home product. That could be a materials quantity.

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There isn’t a doubt that NPOs play a helpful function in Canadian society. However is the tax exemption from all its receipts nonetheless acceptable? In 2014, then finance minister Jim Flaherty announced within the federal finances {that a} session on the tax exemption for NPOs was going to be commenced. He acknowledged the next within the finances paperwork:

“Considerations have been raised that some organizations claiming the NPO tax exemption could also be incomes earnings that aren’t incidental to finishing up the group’s non-profit functions, making revenue out there for the private good thing about members or sustaining disproportionately massive reserves. As well as, as a result of reporting necessities for NPOs are restricted, members of the general public might not be adequately in a position to assess the actions of those organizations, and it might be difficult for the Canada Income Company to guage the entitlement of a company to the tax exemption.

“On this context, Funds 2014 declares the federal government’s intention to evaluation whether or not the revenue tax exemption for NPOs stays correctly focused and whether or not enough transparency and accountability provisions are in place. This evaluation is not going to lengthen to registered charities or registered Canadian beginner athletic associations. As a part of the evaluation, the federal government will launch a session paper for remark and can additional seek the advice of with stakeholders as acceptable.”

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The announcement was a bit shocking for a lot of within the non-profit sector, however I assumed such a evaluation/session was lengthy overdue. A tax exemption is a robust factor. And if it’s not being accurately utilized — maybe by inappropriately competing with for-profit firms that pay tax, funding actions that don’t meet the traditional definition of an NPO, making revenue out there for the private good thing about members, and so forth. — then that’s clearly not a correct use of the tax exemption.

The NPO session was quietly and shortly deserted after the 2015 federal election/authorities change. Nothing materials on this area has occurred since and I nonetheless suppose a evaluation of the tax exemption is critical.

For instance, let’s assume NPO ABC is a “neighborhood group” and sells memberships. It was began by XYZ in 1995 and is managed by his household. Members are entitled to take part in sporting occasions, lessons and leagues organized by ABC for separate charges. Different revenues of ABC encompass concessions, t-shirts and different merchandise (branded with ABC’s emblem) bought for a revenue. ABC additionally owns the constructing it operates out of. It pays vital quantities to XYZ’s household — each immediately and not directly — to function ABC.

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On this easy state of affairs, ought to ABC’s earnings be topic to tax? If not, why not? Is it competing with for-profit organizations that pay tax, thus placing such for-profit organizations at a aggressive drawback? Clearly, the private quantities paid to XYZ and his household are an issue.

In conditions corresponding to this (and plenty of much less apparent ones), it’s time for an total evaluation of the tax exemption for NPOs.

Unions are one other massive group of organizations whose receipts are topic to a blanket tax exemption. These organizations are additionally lengthy overdue for a evaluation to find out whether or not a tax exemption remains to be acceptable, particularly contemplating how politically lively many unions are.

NPOs can serve an important societal function, however there needs to be brighter traces in an NPO’s actions — and higher transparency to evaluate the appropriateness of the NPO’s actions — to find out whether or not a tax exemption is acceptable or not.

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Kim Moody, FCPA, FCA, TEP, is the founding father of Moodys Tax/Moodys Non-public Shopper, a former chair of the Canadian Tax Basis, former chair of the Society of Property Practitioners (Canada) and has held many different management positions within the Canadian tax neighborhood. He might be reached at [email protected] and his LinkedIn profile is www.linkedin.com/in/kimmoody.

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