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Charitable Giving and Your Taxes

By 18 March 2019News

Tax season is here, and your charitable donations may be eligible for a tax credit!  Below are some important things to know before submitting your 2018 tax return.

Your donations needed to be made in 2018

In order to receive a charitable donation receipt for this tax season, your donations needed to be made on or before December 31, 2018. This was sent to you by our Resource Development team at the time of your donation. If you have yet to receive a receipt from a 2018 donation, reach out to us and request that the receipt mailed or emailed to you.

Only registered charities qualify

Only donations made to registered charities or other government-approved donees, which can be found here, will receive a valid charitable donation receipt. These other donees may be an amateur athletic association, a low-income senior, or even the United Nations. Inn from the Cold is a registered charity and our charitable registration number is 87082 3648 RR0001.

Donations can be combined with your spouse

Donations don’t need to be claimed every year, and, in fact, may be carried forward for up to 5 years. In addition, you may combine your donations with your spouse’s donations on one claim. As the federal tax return is generally 15% on the first $200 of the donation, and 29% on the rest, sometimes it is ideal to accumulate and combine donations to maximize your return.

First-time donors have an incentive

An additional tax credit, called the First-Time Donor’s Super Credit, is available to new donors. If you or your spouse are making your first charitable donation since 2007, you may qualify for an additional kickback of 25% of the first $1,000 of your donations!

Both federal and provincial tax credits may be applied

Similar to the federal tax credit rate, each province has its own credit rate. Your provincial tax credit may be combined with your federal credit, resulting one larger charitable donation tax credit overall!

To ensure that you are receiving your correct and maximum charitable donation tax credit, enlist the help of a tax professional, consider the use of downloadable software, or visit canada.ca. Thank you to everyone who contributed to Inn from the Cold in 2018, your donations helped us to provide homeless children and their families with the safe, stable housing and resources needed to make lasting change!

If you would like to make a donation to qualify for tax benefits next tax season, make a donation here.