A. PRIVATE MEMBERS' BILL
You may have heard about the Private Members' Bill C-470, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act. This Bill had two main components: a salary cap of $250,000 for any employee of a charity (with the possible consequence of revocation of charitable status if the cap was exceeded), and mandatory disclosure of compensation for a charity's five highest-paid employees. The Bill received a great deal of press and commentary within the charity sector, with many organizations making submissions to the government. (The Bill did not contain any exceptions for any specific entities and, therefore, caught organizations like hospitals and universities and independent schools.)
B. AMENDMENTS TO THE BILL
The Bill was referred to the Finance Committee for review. At Committee hearings in November 2010, amendments to the Bill were introduced by the Bill's sponsor, Albina Guarnieri, MP for Mississauga East – Cooksville. The proposed amendments would result in the elimination of the $250,000 salary cap and the elimination of the revocation of charitable status as a consequence. The revised Bill includes a requirement to disclose the compensation of any executive or employee of a charity with compensation in excess of $100,000. This remains a concern to members of the sector.
We will continue to update people on this legislation.
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