OTTAWA — Former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer has a knack for catching breaks.
Not only did the husband of embattled Minister Helena Guergis have two very serious criminal charges — impaired driving and cocaine possession — dropped last week, he is also likely eligible for a tax break on a $500 donation he volunteered to make to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. He was also forced to pay a $500 fine for the careless driving conviction.
Based on current estimates, Jaffer could pay about $140 less this year in taxes because of the charitable donation.
But the break isn’t automatic — Jaffer would have to report it on his tax return — and NDP justice critic Joe Comartin hopes he doesn’t.
“I would hope that Mr. Jaffer would have the good grace not to apply,” he said Wednesday, adding perhaps there should be an amendment to the Income Tax Act.
Specifically, people who make charitable donations as part of a court proceeding — even if voluntary — shouldn’t be eligible for the credit, which was designed to encourage people to donate to charities without being taxed on their income they give away.
According to Caitlin Workman with Canada Revenue Agency, the tax credit is meant to encourage charitable giving.
“If it’s not voluntary, I don’t know if it would necessarily qualify as a gift,” she said.
As to whether Jaffer would have made the donation even if he hadn’t been charged last September, his lawyer did not return calls from QMI Agency Wednesday.
bryn.weese@sunmedia.ca
