http://decision.tcc-cci.gc.ca/tcc-cci/decisions/en/item/66885/index.do 
Orfori-Darko et al v. The Queen[1] (February 17, 2014) was another decision involving the issuance of charitable receipts in a very murky situation:
[1] The appellants are appealing the disallowance of the tax credits for charitable donations they claimed in their 2006, 2007 and 2008 taxation years. Mr. Ofori-Darko claimed donations to the Redemption Faith Ministries/Church (“Redemption”) of $3645, $4516, and $4102 for those years respectively. Ms. Ofori-Darko claimed donations of $10,815, $10,195 and $10,648 to the same organization for those years respectively. The appeals were heard on common evidence.
[2] The Minister of National Revenue (the “Minister”) disallowed the credits on the basis that neither appellant made any donations to Redemption in any of those years and also because the charitable donation receipts issued to them by Redemption did not contain the information required by Regulation 3501 (ITR) necessary to prove the gift. A receipt setting out the prescribed information is necessary in order to claim a tax credit for a charitable donation, according to paragraph 118.1(2)(a) of the Income Tax Act. (ITA)
[3] Redemption was in the years in issue a registered charity. It operated a house of worship in Etobicoke and according to the appellant was engaged in charitable activities in Canada as well as Ghana. Mr. Ofori-Darko was the founder and pastor of Redemption, and was also a director. Ms. Ofori-Darko was an assistant pastor and a director.
[4] The charitable registration of Redemption was revoked in 2010 because the Minister could not confirm the charitable activities of Redemption. The Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) officer who oversaw the audit testified there were serious concerns relating to overstated charitable donation receipts issued by Redemption. In 2005, Redemption issued receipts for donations totalling over $121,000. Only $4234 was deposited in Redemption’s bank account that year. In 2006, Redemption issued receipts for over $677,000 of donations. Only $7876 was deposited into its bank account that year. The appellants did not challenge the evidence of the CRA officer on this point.
[Footnote deleted]
The court did not accept the appellants’ testimony that the donations were made:
[9] I am also unable to accept that the amounts shown in the tithes records are reliable. The person who allegedly made the entries in the tithes record was not called as a witness, and there was no evidence that she was unavailable. I conclude that she was not called because her evidence would not have assisted the appellants. More importantly however, the appellants did not provide bank records for Redemption to show that deposits at least equal to the tithes allegedly collected were made into Redemption’s bank account.
[10] According to Mr. Ofori-Darko, he deposited all of the cash collected into that account. The evidence that was presented does not, in fact, support his testimony in this regard. For the 2006 year, the tithe record shows total donations of $12406 whereas the CRA officer stated that only $7876 was deposited into Redemption’s bank account that year. The appellants’ failure to produce the bank records for Redemption for the years in issue leads me to again draw an inference that those records would not have supported their position. The appellants as directors of Redemption, ought to have been in a position to produce such records.
Moreover, the court found that the receipts issued did not meet the requirements of the Income Tax Act:[2]
[13] I agree with the respondent’s counsel that those receipts do not contain all of the information required by subsection 3501(1) of the ITR. In particular, they do not provide a breakdown of the donation between cash and gift in kind nor do they give a description of gifts in kind that were allegedly donated.
[14] Furthermore the receipts do not show when the gifts in kind were received by Redemption or what their fair market value was at that time. Finally the receipts fail to show the locality or place of issuance of the receipt. As I indicated in the case of
Afovia et al. v. The Queen, the information listed in subsection 3501(1) of the ITR, the information listed in subsection 3501(1) of the ITR is mandatory for charitable donation receipts, and therefore the receipts in these appeals are insufficient to prove the making of a gift as provided for in paragraph 118.1(2)(a) of the ITA.
[Footnote omitted]
As a result the appeals were dismissed.
[1] 2014 TCC 54.
[2] R.S.C. 1985, c. 1 (5th Supp.).