Given that the Minister of National Revenue is considering the results of the recent Consultation Panel on the Political Activity of Charities which provided suggestions on the political activities test it may be worthwhile to look at a specific aspect of the test which relates it back to the related business rules (and social enterprise).
Peppered throughout the Income Tax and Excise Tax (i.e. GST / HST) Acts is the “all or substantially all” test. The legislative necessity of such a test should be obvious. Tax acts apply to all sorts of transactions, some are predictable and some are not, but even in predictable cases one wants to avoid the law of unintended consequences and try to ensure that the law only applies to the cases one has in mind. As a result the tax laws are filled with elastic tests like ‘all or substantially all’, ‘reasonable’ and ‘the intent … Continue reading “"All or substantially all" – A look at CRA's political activities test”
Social enterprise
Social enterprise movement is gaining momentum
The social enterprise movement is gaining momentum in the non-profit and charitable sectors. There are frequently articles in the popular news about "successful" not-for-profits expanding their activities to include revenue generating activities. There are enterprises like the old standby enterprise of selling used clothes and goods, but we hear more about ambitious plans like one recently highlighted in the Calgary Herald discussing how the local legion is becoming something akin to a real estate developer...
