CCCC Seeks Membership Comments on MP Peter Braid’s Bill C-458 Supporting Canada’s Charitable Sector

ELMIRA – November 1, 2012 – Canadian Council of Christian Charities is calling on its members to contact CCCC with their comments on the Bill C-458 that was introduced in Parliament on October 31 by Peter Braid, MP for Kitchener–Waterloo. The Bill proposes to extend the tax deadline for charitable donations so that eligible donations made up until the last day of February may be claimed in the previous calendar year. Bill C-458 will also establish the last seven days of February as National Charities Week in Canada.

Mr. Braid stated that his rationale is as follows:

“Moving the deadline for charitable donations to the tax preparation season in February will increase awareness of the tax benefits that are available when contributing to charities, and provide an incentive to increase donations in order to ensure a larger tax credit.”

His official press release also takes into account that “the current tax deadline of December 31 falls during the busy holiday season, when Canadians are not usually focused on strategic financial planning. In addition, many families have financial constraints at this time, and are unable to maximize their donations in order to provide a greater charitable tax credit. Further, many charitable organizations are challenged to provide staff during this busy time in order to receive year-end donations and process receipts.”

CCCC will be giving this proposal an in-depth review and will report our analysis in due course. In the meantime we would appreciate comments from our membership as to what issues they would anticipate if Mr. Braid’s proposal was made law.

You can direct your comments to CCCC by completing this survey: 

Thanks

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Barry W. Bussey
V.P. Legal Affairs

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