as tax audits widen to new groups

moncler sale outlet OTTAWA The Conservative government has stepped up its scrutiny of the political activities of charities, adding fresh money for more audits, and casting its net well beyond the environmental groups that have opposed its energy policies. moncler sale outlet

moncler outlet jackets Canada Revenue Agency, ordered in 2012 to audit political activities as a special project, now monlcer down jackets has also targeted charities focused on foreign aid, human rights, and even poverty. moncler outlet jackets

With 52 political activity audits currently underway, some cheap moncler coats stretching out two years and longer, charities say they been left in limbo, nervous about speaking out on any issue lest they provoke a negative ruling from the taxman.

And their legal bills are rising rapidly in some cases adding $100,000 to already strained budgets as they try to navigate often complex demands from CRA auditors.

cheap moncler coats nerve racking, said Leilani Farha, executive director of Canada Without Poverty, a small charity based in Ottawa that moncler outlet had to turn over internal emails and other documents to auditors looking for political activities. cheap moncler coats

cheap moncler jackets sale been under audit for more than two moncler sale years, and it just goes on and on, with no communication. It a huge drain on the resources of our organization. blitz began with the 2012 federal budget, shortly after several cabinet ministers Joe Oliver, now finance minister, among them labelled environmental groups as radicals and money launderers. cheap moncler jackets sale

moncler factory outlet The groups, able to attract donations by virtue of their charitable status, have sharply opposed the Harper government oilsands and pipelines policies. moncler factory outlet

cheap moncler outlet The government tightened rules and initially earmarked some $8 million over two years for CRA to create a special team of auditors moncler outlet store to closely scrutinize the political activities of charities. cheap moncler outlet

cheap moncler jackets A landmark policy statement from 2003 moncler sale outlet allows charities to spend up to 10 per cent of their resources on political activities, such as advocating changes in government policies. Partisan activity endorsing a candidate or party has always been forbidden and remains so. cheap moncler jackets

The initial wave of audits targeted just such groups, such as the David Suzuki Foundation, Tides Canada, Equiterre, and Environmental Defence all of whom are still awaiting outcomes. The CRA readily acknowledges that complaints are taken into account when deciding cheap moncler outlet which groups to audit.

But the circle has widened to include other charities that have also been burrs under buy moncler jackets the government saddle, including Amnesty International and the United Church of Canada Kairos charity, run with 10 other religious organizations to promote human rights.

Revenue Minister Kerry Lynne Findlay rejects any claim that the government is using the tax agency as a weapon against its opponents, Moncler Outlet saying the initiative is simply about good stewardship over taxpayer dollars.

moncler outlet online rules regarding charities and political activities are long standing. The CRA has a legal responsibility to ensure that charitable dollars, donated by charitable Canadians, are used for charitable purposes, she said. moncler outlet online

moncler outlet audits occur at moncler outlet sale arm length from the government and are conducted free of any political interference. Our government is committed to ensuring that our tax system is fair for all Canadians. tax agency acknowledges it has been auditing the political activities of a variety of charities whose work focuses on animal welfare, https://www.moncleronlineoutlet.com poverty, education, religion, health, human rights and others. moncler outlet

One group Physicians for Global Survival, an anti war organization was stripped of its charitable status in 2012 for violating rules on political activities, though that audit started before the latest blitz.

The tax agency will not comment on specific audits, their outcome, or even confirm they are taking place. In February, however, it said it expected to resolve about six other audits with education letters and compliance agreements by March.

The vast majority of these cheap moncler jackets political audits remain in process, hanging like a sword of Damocles over their nervous targets.

moncler sale costly to them and stressful, said Harvey McKinnon, a Vancouver based fundraiser who has worked with non profits for 35 years. moncler sale

moncler outlet store Harper government attack on non profits is unprecedented. I essentially see it as a bullying tactic. chill has descended even over some charitable groups not currently under an auditor microscope, McKinnon warned. moncler outlet store

moncler outlet uk so much fear out there, nobody wants to be involved in (political activity) because all of a sudden they potentially audited and an groups under audit declined to speak to The Canadian Press, other than confirming a few basic details. moncler outlet uk

a difficult space to operate in, said Tim Gray, executive director of Environmental Defence, which has so far spent an estimated $100,000 on related legal bills.

cheap moncler Environmental Defence is widely seen in the charity community as being at imminent risk of losing its charitable status, but Gray said no such CRA notice has been received. The audit, meanwhile, continues. cheap moncler

moncler outlet sale Gareth Kirkby, a graduate student at Victoria Royal moncler mens jackets Roads University, interviewed leaders at 16 charities currently under audit for their political activities, offering them anonymity to protect them from possible moncler outlet online retribution. About half were environmental groups; the rest were in social services, international development and other areas. moncler outlet sale

His MA thesis, accepted last month, identified what he called an chill. interview data demonstrates that the government is now, in effect or by design, or the contribution of charities to public debates by them with CRA audits, his study concludes.

The current crop of political activity audits has prompted a sharp rebuke from the Canadian Council of Churches, which in April wrote directly to the prime minister about the effect of threats to revoke the charitable status of organizations that draw attention to policies that harm our world. Lawyers Rights Watch Canada wrote to a United Nations group about what it calls the space cheap moncler sale for dissent in Canada.

moncler jacket sale Canada Revenue Agency officials, meanwhile, say they simply doing their jobs as mandated by government moncler jacket sale.