I introduced Jamie Golombek, VP Tax & Estate Planning from AIM Trimark at a session the Niagara Community Foundation put together for financial and investment advisors. Jamie provided a fairly basic overview of personal giving and provided some concrete examples of how even a modest amount per week can amount to a significant donation with a minimal impact on net income thanks to tax deductibility. Some of Jamie’s most interesting comments however, were at the end of his presentation when he discussed charitable “tax shelters”. Jamie presented several cases where organizations had created receipts for amounts greater than the amount of the donation (or in his example, the purchase of art). “In every case, that these have gone before the courts, the CRA has won” Golombek told us. “If it looks to good to be true – it is, run from it.” he added. Golombek went on to explain that those who participate in such programs should expect to be audited. He mentioned an article in the Toronto Star exposing such a tax shelter scheme. While Golombek didn’t want to name the focus of the article (David Singh) it’s an interesting read and clearly illustrates the mechanics of just such a scheme.
Chris,
This issue has come full circle in a year. This past October a colleague of mine was at a meeting where the CRA told him that they would be auditing each and every tax shelter arrangement out there. So everyone who has been involved in these should definitely watch out.
Posted by: Joshua Jory | November 26, 2007 at 01:17 PM