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Thread: CFC Charitable Status

  1. #1
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    Default CFC Charitable Status

    I think there was a thread here discussing the Charitable status of the CFC. Was it erased? Two 2010 threads have the word "charitable" in them, but no discussion. Edit: oops, discussion was in ChessTalk, here:

    http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/show...ght=charitable

    Is the CFC still issuing tax deductible slips?

    While the CFC is in danger of losing its charitable status because Revenue Canada might hold that what the CFC does is not educational, organizations in Great Britain may be gaining charitable status. Until recently, chess in the UK is reported to be funded by Education ministries. That I gleaned as a sideline from this thread, with the participation of several famous (famous in chess organization) names:

    http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2368
    Last edited by Jonathan Berry; 11-15-2010 at 02:45 AM.
    JMS+ 1 p1.

  2. #2

    Default CFC Charitable Status - Annulment Review

    Hi Jonathan:

    I am not on the executive, but as a governor, this what I understand of the current status of the file.

    Revenue Canada seeks to " annul " the charitable status of the CFC - this is based on the fact that it should never have been granted the charitable status in the first place. The argument is that the organization as a whole is not entirely dedicated to educational purposes ( even if it arguably carries out some educational activity ).

    CFC has requested a review of the initial Revenue Canada decision. Les Bunning, our CFC pro bono lawyer, is handling the review application.

    So anything you have cofirming the educational character of various activities carried on by CFC, should be submitted to Les ASAP.

    Bob

  3. #3
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    Default

    Funnily enough, Bob, the best argument I ever heard in favour of chess being regarded as an educational activity was from Les Bunning himself, in the days before he was a law student, much less the CFC pro-bono lawyer.

    More than anything, I was wondering if the CFC was still offering to write tax receipts for donations. If so, this may be the last chance, and we should know about it. The front page of the CFC website is still whether we will send teams to the 2010 Olympiad, but it's mum on whether donations (even late ones) will receive a tax receipt. Not even the scant clarity of a maybe.

    Ironically, CFC uses tax-deductible donations to support educational-age players now, but back in the day it didn't. In the 1970s and 80s, support for Canada's representation at the World Junior and later World Cadet (under-16) came from general revenues, not donations. Now there's a whole raft of youth events, though mostly I guess it's players' parents donating players' airfares.
    JMS+ 1 p1.

  4. #4
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    Default CFC loses tax status

    I found this in the latest Canadian Chess News, whose
    digitally-readable file I have renamed
    CCN1101.PDF, page 5 file (and email delivery) date 2011.02.03

    " ...CRA played the role of scrooge. We received a
    registered letter just before Christmas telling us that our tax
    status as a charity has now been annulled. We are still
    happy to receive donations, but we can no longer issue tax
    receipts." ... (Bob Gillanders, CFC Prez)

    I'm sorry, I don't read CCN as closely as it deserves. This
    item was brought to my attention by Kevin Spraggett in his
    blog. Incidentally, on the same CCN page "Freeman" is a typo for
    "Freedman".

    The subject thread at Chesstalk is:
    http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=4580

    The news itself is devastating.
    JMS+ 1 p1.

  5. #5
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    Default

    I'm wondering if there has been any sort of renewed attempt to regain the CFC's charitable status. The chance of success just might be better now, as the Conservatives under Stephen Harper are long gone, and the current federal Liberal government is facing an election next year.
    There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
    Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio.

  6. #6
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    Default

    Unless the laws were changed, I don't see that there would be an interpretation that would allow us this designation, again.

    I think we decided that our best route to be able to give tax receipts was as a Registered Sports Association. Vlad could talk more to this.

  7. #7
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    At the moment the costs of complying with requirements of any such designation would be higher than the donations that we receive. The only way to make it worth our while would be to greatly increase donations. This is part of the reason that the CFC dropped fighting the loss of charitable status. We could do so, and we might have won but the cost would have been quite a bit more than we had raised in donations through the last few years. When the government indicated that it would not go after our foundation funds we folded like a cheap suit which was probably the right and expedient thing to do at the time.

    At the moment most of our donations come from related parties (members). Donations from members are exempt from the soliciting corporation designation. In the case of a soliciting corporation which gets funding/donations from unrelated parties or government as soon as you cross the $10,000 per year threshold once then suddenly you need audited financial statements which typically costs you up to $4000 to $5000 in auditor fees each and every year. If you drop back down then it takes two years and a process to avoid these auditing fees. This is also why when going through the NFP process I resisted calls to rename non-voting members to something else like player participants. It does reduce the flexibility of future boards but it also means that in certain circumstances you have to answer to a larger body of chessplayers over and beyond the voting members (ie in case you wanted to fold the CFC or dispose of its assets to the detriment of the chess public).
    Last edited by Vladimir Drkulec; 08-15-2018 at 03:56 PM.

  8. #8
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    Default Who needs the headache anyway?

    There is another angle here as well. It probably would never apply to the CFC but, given the virulent hostility expressed towards CFC decisions on who to support at FIDE, etc., you just never know. Canada has been getting into some nasty international fights lately.

    What I mean is that the politically-motivated audits that were carried out under the Harper Government are continuing under the current Trudeau administration. NDP Finance Critic MP Peter Julian pointed out today that the "Liberals continue Harper’s political harassment of charities" .

    You can read the details over here (The Liberals have basically appealed the Court decision in which "the Ontario Superior Court ruled that the restrictions on charities violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms" all the way to the SCoC. Thanks a lot, Justin. [rolleyes] )

    So, there's another reason. Who needs the headache?

  9. #9
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    There is that. Whenever deciding on a forward course for the CFC we always have to consider whether we have the resources to back it up and consider the additional costs including the time demands on our volunteers of going forward. There are no worries that the critics would have a legitimate complaint but even illegitimate complaints take time and energy to respond to.

  10. #10
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    At this moment there are two chess related Canadian charities from https://apps.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/haip...red&p=1&b=true :
    Chess Institute of Canada
    MANITOBA CHESS HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM INC.
    .*-1

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