Each year a registered charity is required to spend a certain
minimum amount on its receipted income on direct charitable activities
or on gifts to qualified donees. This is called the disbursement
quota. Failure to satisfy this quota is a serious matter because
it is grounds for revoking a charity's registration. Charities
cannot use the amounts they devote to political activities to
help them meet their disbursement quota. However, "government-related
charitable activities" like those discussed in item #9 can
be used to meet the quota, assuming they are not costs associated
with doing day-to-day business with government or government
agencies.
For further information, see Revenue Canada's website at http://www.ccra-adrc.gc.ca/tax/charities/.
