Mission Life Foundation (MLF)

Is Mission Life Foundation still open?

This tax shelter is closed and there is no support from the company. They have also moved and have FAILED to leave a forwarding address or contact information.

The End Tax Shelters Now team is happy to speak with you to review your options regarding your particular tax shelter case. The company is now closed and has left no forwarding address, and therefore no support. However, we are happy to help.

A brief history of Mission Life Foundation

The Mission Life Financial donation program was created in 2009 as a clone of the Relief Lending Group (RLG) donation program. Mission Life Financial (MLF) eventually purchased the RLG program and both were run by Phil Trudelle. After the 2010 tax year, Trudelle shut down RLG and promoted only MLF up until 2012 when MLF also stopped promoting. The Mission Life program was very popular in Alberta and was promoted by the Fast Track Group. Since MLF was basically run by the same people that ran COIP and RLG, all of the problems and complaints associated with this group were also directed at Mission Life.

MLF became the subject of scam complaints and accusations of fraud and breach of trust. Because of all the Member complaints, PGC launched an Investigation into the alleged wrongdoing.

As a clone of RLG, the Mission Life Donation program was one of the first “open market” structured programs that met all of the proposed amendments to the Income Tax Act that were actually passed into law in June 2014. Because of this, participants still have one of the best opportunities possible to maintain their tax credits, in spite of the scam and wrongdoing allegations.

The MLF program has been reassessed by CRA for all of the earlier years and most participants have filed Notices of Objection (NOO) provided by MLF. The NOO stops the CRA from collecting the reassessment and transfers the file to the CRA Appeals Division to be dealt with later.

In early 2015, CRA started to issue the MLF Notices of Reassessment for the tax year 2011. The action required this year by donors needs to be reviewed very carefully, primarily because of the conflicting advice from different advisers.

The CRA basically has 4 arguments

The donation was not a “gift” at law.
The financing of the gift was a sham. ie: You never intended to pay back the loan or recognize it as a real debt.
The value of the pharmaceuticals donated was inflated.
The donation was a tax shelter. ie: The loan was a partial recourse loan.

PGC is of the opinion that donors do have a valid claim to their tax credits, but only if they do the things that will prove the CRA position wrong. Some advisers are giving advice to their clients that will, in fact, prove the CRA correct.

Bad Advice

Ignore the debt or contest the debt (ie Prove CRA points 2 & 4 correct)
Settle the Debt with Cash at less than full face value of the loan. (This changes the debt from being a full recourse debt to a partial recourse debt and reduces the eligible amount to zero.)
Settle the Debt with Pharma at reduced prices from the Lender or his affiliated companies. (Same as 2.)
Wait and see what happens, you have plenty of time. (In reality, the interest clock is ticking and will cost you every day: interest must be paid to ensure a full recourse loan.)
If you wish to review the advice you are receiving from any particular individual or organization, please don’t hesitate to contact us for a personal consultation.

MLF 2011 CRA Reassessments

If a donor wants to keep his tax credits, it is mandatory to file a Notice of Objection. This year, there are a variety of NOOs being offered for use. It is very important that donors choose the NOO that best represents their situation. It is not wise to mislead the CRA at this time with your NOO.

Mission Life Financial has sent out emails to their clients with advice. They advise their clients “…..you should pay the reassessment [to CRA]….”. They have also provided 3 different NOOs for your use. PGC has reviewed the MLF advice and documents and disagrees with the advice and the use of the NOOs provided. The MLF NOOs are basically confirming to CRA the bad advice in 2. and 3. above. CRA would love to have donors do this. And for those of you who received the MLF email, did you notice it came from agent@irmcollections.com. Their collections company would love to hear from you too.

PGC Continues to Believe the Following

You did make a valid gift and received all the documentation necessary.
The value of donation is what you paid for it (the loan amount).
Donors MUST treat the debt as real and settle it according to the terms and conditions to prove CRA Points 2 & 4 wrong
The only known compliant way to settle the debt without indemnification from the lender is through the Justice Pharma program.

They are under investigations: http://profitablegiving.ca/?q=current-investigations

If you have any relevant information regarding this tax shelter case, please email us at cases@endtaxsheltersnow.com