We have a number of resources to assist including our online course Receipting for Canadian Registered Charities with an updated Receipting Kit.
If you wish to retain our law firm to assist with your charity or non-profit’s receipting questions, you can contact us.
A lot can be written on mission trips and the appropriateness of issuing receipts. CRA has been auditing charities that are innapropriately issuing receipts with certain types of trips or travel. It is very dependent on the exact facts of…
When you give something to a charity it will not always be considered a “gift” for which you can get an official donation receipt. Here is a CRA note on this subject: “Receiving gifts What is a gift? For…
Depending on the situation it may be acceptable, or unacceptable, for a Canadian registered charity to issue an official donation receipt for the donation of gift certificate. The same rules would also probably apply to a store gift card. Here…
The Charities Directorate of CRA cautions that official donation receipts cannot be issued for pledges. When a person actually makes the donation then a receipt can be issued. Here is the CRA summary policy: “Pledges Can a charity issue…
A Canadian registered charity can in certain cases provide a receipt for a cash gift that was provided before the effective date of registration. Here is a CRA policy commentary on the issue. Policy Commentary Release Date October 4, 1993…
There is a difference between a business making a donation to a registered charity and a corporation entering into a sponsorship arrangement. See CRA Sponsorship. Sponsorship Providing sponsorship to a charity or to a charitable event is not a gift,…
There are times that a Canadian charity does not want to put its actual physical address on an official donation receipt – such as if you are a women’s shelter and the location is secret or perhaps you have preprinted…
A typical donation to a Canadian registered charity is a cash donation in which the donor receives nothing in return. In such a case the concept of fair market value is not important. However on occasion a person wants to…
Too many people think that fair market value is the “highest price” you can get for something. In fact that is not correct and the “highest price” is not fair market value – it is the “highest price”. Here is…
CRA recommends that if a donation of a non-cash (in-kind) item is being made to a Canadian registered charity and it is worth more than $1000 that it be appraised by a knowledgeable, qualified and independent third party appraiser. For…
In some cases when a person is donating items (not cash) to a charity the charity does not give a receipt for the amount of the FMV of the item but instead the lesser of the fair market value and…
Yes. But it must be done properly. Here is a note from CRA on the subject. Correcting or replacing official donation receipts How can a charity correct errors on printed receipts? We recommend that a registered charity use a…
It obviously depends. If the official donation receipt is in some small way incomplete it could be a penalty equal to 5% of the eligible amount on the receipt. However if it is deliberately false information then it can be…
Generally yes as long as any advantage is subtracted. See this note from CRA. Policy Commentary Release Date March 29, 2000 Reference Number CPC – 018 Subject Official donation receipts – Whether gifts out of inventory qualify as charitable…
When a person donates an item to a charity for an auction the charity can give the donor a receipt for the eligible amount of the donation (fair market value minus any advantage the donor received). When a person bids…
If a donor provides a donation with a request that those funds go to a specific person or family then in general a tax receipt would not be issued. The CRA provides “However, donations subject to a general direction from…
It depends on whether the member is receiving valuable benefits and the value of those benefits. “Summary Policy Date September 3, 2003 (Revised November 23, 2005) Reference Number CSP – M05 Key Words Membership fees Policy Statement A qualified donee…
CRA’s document “Gifts and Income Tax” (P113(E) Rev. 09) is helpful for Canadian charities understanding what is a “gift” that can be receipted. The document is located at Here is an excerpt dealing with gifts of cultural property. “Gifts…
CRA’s document “Gifts and Income Tax” (P113(E) Rev. 09) is helpful for Canadian charities and taxpayers understanding what is a “gift” that can be receipted. The document is located at Here is an excerpt dealing with carrying forward tax…
In general you should not issue an official donation receipt for a conditional gift unless you are sure that the condition will be fulfilled. If in doubt best to wait till the condition is fulfilled and then to issue the…
CRA’s document “Gifts and Income Tax” (P113(E) Rev. 09) is helpful for Canadian charities and taxpayers understanding what is a “gift” that can be receipted. The document is located at Here is an excerpt dealing with donations by artists…
There are 3 types of anonymous gifts. The first one is that the charity knows the name of the donor but the donor requests that the charity not to divulge the identity of the donor so others will not know. …
No. Many foundations or charities do not understand that a Canadian registered charity does not issue an official donation receipt to another Canadian registered charity (or qualified donee ie. organization that can issue an official donation receipt) when it receives…
No. Here is a slightly longer version of “no” from the CRA: Can an official donation receipt be issued for the purchase of a lottery ticket? It is the view of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) that no part of…