The Village of Burns Lake will pay approximately $10,000 to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) for input tax credits administered on behalf of the Burns Lake Mountain Biking Association (BLMBA).
This comes after a statement issued by council last month saying the municipality’s actions had not always been “consistent with federal tax law.” Council then determined that the municipality could no longer administer the funds of nonprofits for the purposes of obtaining GST/HST rebates for those organizations.
The BLMBA board wrote a letter to council last month expressing concerns that council’s decision would mean that the organization would have to pay approximately $10,000 themselves.
Although the CRA did not ask for any money back, Sheryl Worthing, Chief Administrative Officer for the Village of Burns Lake, explained that the village was advised to pay this amount.
“We have been advised that BLMBA must administer their own input tax credits and that we should not administer on their behalf,” she said.
The approximately $10,000 that the village will be paying to CRA are for input tax credits administered on behalf of BLMBA in the past three yeas. Input tax credits allow organizations to recover the GST/HST paid on purchases and expenses related to their commercial activities.
When asked if the village will also be paying for input tax credits administered on behalf of other organizations, Worthing said “no.”
“We have only ever administered input tax credits for BLMBA,” she said.
The decision to no longer administer funds of nonprofits comes after council received supplementary information on matters relating to the village’s practices.
According to council, the information received clearly indicates that concerns recently expressed by council were “well founded.” These concerns not only include the administration of grant funding on behalf of other organizations, but also the provision of tax receipts for donations made through the village to organizations lacking registered charity status.
“While council recognizes that this may create some short-term hardship for organizations that have benefited from the municipality’s previous policies in this regard, it is confident that these organizations can make alternative arrangements that do not expose themselves or the municipality to unacceptable risk,” said council in a statement.
The statement adds that the village intends to work with organizations it has assisted in the past to ensure the transition is “made smoothly.”