2013 08 01 Response to 063932 request

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Canada Revenue Agency

Agence du revenu du Canada

~-~G 0 1 2013 Ms. Tasleem Thawar PEN Canada 24 Ryerson Avenue, Suite 301 Toronto ON MST 2P3

Your file

Our fife

A-063932

Dear Ms. Thawar: Tllis letter is in reply to your request for information pursuant to the Access to Information Act (the Act). Your request read: "All records relating to the decision to send letters to registered charities reminding them of the limitations imposed on registered charities in regards to partisan political activities under subsection 149.1(6.1) and (6.2) of the Income Tax Act. Please include policy documents, reports, briefing notes, meeting notes, communication (e-mail messages and other correspondence) and any other relevant records. Please also include documents that: outline how those organizations that received reminder letters were identified to or by CRA staff demonstrate how staff determined that these organization~ should indeed receive a reminder letter, including the criteria used to determine partisan political activity, clarify whether any organizations that were identified did not, in fact, receive a reminder letter Though your office has advised us that you are not able to release the names of the organizations that received the letters for confidentiality reasons, for each organization that received one of the above letters please include: 1.

The charity type 2.

The category in which the charity works.

For example, Canadian Mennonite Publishing Service is listed as follows: Charity Type: Religion Category: Missionary Organizations and Propagation of Gospel" With regards to "All records relating to the decision to send letters to registered charities reminding them of the limitations imposed on registered charities in regards to partisan political activities under subsection 149.1(6.1) and (6.2) of the Income Tax Act", we were infom1ed by officials from the Charities Directorate that because you are not an authorized representative of the organizations that would have received reminder letters relating to pm1isan political activities, they are prevented from disclosing protected taxpayer information without proper authorization should it exist. . . ./2

Canada

TF690 E (DB)

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With respect to "how those organizations that received reminder letters were identified to or by CRA staff', and "how staff determined that these organizations should indeed receive a reminder letter", we have enclosed a copy of the requested information. When you review the docw11ent, you will note some shaded areas where the infom1ation has been removed. These areas are exempted from disclosure under paragraph 16(l)(c) of the Act. A copy of this provision is enclosed for your reference.

With regards to "the criteria used to determine partisan political activity", the Charities Directorate advised that employees are currently using the Policy Statement CPS -022 Political Activities, available at http: //www.cra-arc.gc.ca/cluis-gvng/chrts/plcy/cps/cps-022-eng.html.

Finally, with regards to "clarify whether any organizations that were identified did not, in fact, receive a reminder letter" the Charities Directorate has advised that such records do not exist and "for each organization that received one of the above letters please include: 1. The charity type 2. The category in which the charity works" that the Canada Revenue Agency does not maintain records in this manner.

Please note that you are entitled to complain to the Information Commissioner about the processing of your request within 60 days of receiving this notice. If you decide to use this right, please send your notice of complaint to: The Infom1ation Commissioner of Canada Place de Ville, Tower B II2 Kent Street, 7th floor Ottawa ON KIA 1H3 I trust the information provided will be of assistance to you. If you have any questions or require more infon11ation about the processing of this request, please contact Jeremy Garbas-Tyrrell by calling (613) 960-4841 or by writing to 45 Rideau Street, 8th floor, Ottawa, Ontario, KIA OLS.

Jan Wendrich A/Manager Access to Information and Privacy Directorate Enclosure

Reminder Letter Guidelines

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) often obtains information from external (media, internet, third-parties) or internal (risk selection) sources (referrals) stating that a charity is not compliant with the provisions of the Income Tax Act and/or its Regulations.

Based on a preliminary file review, the HQ advisor may decide that an audit is not warranted, but there are issues of non-compliance that should be addressed . A reminder letter may be issued where it is determined that: a)

16(1)(c)

b)

16(1)(c) c)

16(1)(c) The reminder letter will inform the charity of the identified areas of non-compliance and remind the charity of limitations imposed on regi ·tered charitie<>. It will also serve as a record that the charity has beer, put on notice by the Charities Directorate, and asked to take appropriate action to ensure compliance with the Aci:.

Remi nder Letter Procedures 1. All leads/referrals must. be forwarded to the Information Officer (Cheryl) for entering into the systems. The Information Officer will do the following : • create a case in CTS and AIMS ; • create 3 fo lder for the refeiral ; • request the charity file from Records; • assign the referral and charity file to COF 097 (leads/referrals bank) for screening or; if urgent • assign to a HQ Advisor or to Office Audit for screening (see screening procedures).

2. The HQ Advisor or Office Auditor will prepare the rem inder letter using the reminder letter template which can be found on the G: Drive under Compliance Division/Compliance Section/Reminder Letters.

3. The HQ Advisor will submit the letter for the Manager of Audit Section 2 (Holly) or Manager of Office Audit (Kevin) and Director's (Danie) approval.

• Under CTS role 2, go to option 'Under Review By' and select Holly Brant or Kevin Brazeau from the list of names.

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4. Once letter is approved , the HQ Advisor or Office Auditor will do the following : • sign the letter; • scan the signed letter (without comments and/or track changes) to G:\Compliance Division\Compliance Section\Reminder Letters; • upload the scanned signed letter to the CTS case (see screening procedures CTS "Request Closure"); and, • place a copy of the signed letter in the charity file and mail the letter

by Registered Mail.

5. The HQ Advisor or Office Auditor will close the case in CTS under Role 2 using the closure reason 'Reminder letter' and top 3 findings option (see screening procedures) .

6. The HQ advisor or Office Auditor will pass the charity file to COF 172 (Records) in RECMAN, return the charity file to Records, and provide the lead/referral folder to the Information Officer for systems c:osure.

Follow-ups to Reminder Letters Depending on the seriousness of the non-compliance issue(s) , the Manager may decide that a follow-up to a reminder letter is requ ired to ensure the charity took the appropriate action to comply with the provisions of the Act and/or it Regulations. In that case, the HQ Advisor or Office Auditor will do the following : • enter he BF date 16(1 )(c) on the front of the charity file jacket., and SF to COF 097 (leads/referrals bank); • pass the file to COF 172 (Records) in RECMAN; • place the charity fils in the green bucket in the business centre; and, • provide referral folder to the Information Officer for processing .

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