Donate to a charity? Claim your tax credit!

Did you donate to a Canadian registered charity or another qualified donee? You may be eligible for a tax credit. To get ready for a tax filing season like no other, we’ve put together some helpful tips and information for you.

Sign up for direct deposit and file online to reduce impacts and delays

Due to COVID-19, it may take the CRA 10 to 12 weeks to process paper returns. For this reason, the CRA encourages you to sign up for direct deposit and to file your income tax and benefit return online to get any refund for which you may be eligible faster and avoid delays. We also encourage you to sign up for My Account; the fastest and easiest way to view and manage your tax and benefit information, or My Business Account if you own a business. The CRA’s Get Ready page has information on online filing, deadlines, and other helpful links.

Claim your tax credit

To claim a charitable donation tax credit, save your official donation receipts from any registered charities and other qualified donees. After you have your receipts from all your donations, follow these steps:

Step 1: Decide how much you want to claim. You can also claim donations made by your spouse or common-law partner. In one tax year, you can claim:

• donations you made between January 1 and December 31 of that year
• any unclaimed donations you made in the last five years
• any unclaimed donations you made after February 10, 2014, which were gifts of ecologically sensitive land, the conservation and protection of which is important to the preservation of Canada’s environmental heritage.

Step 2: Once you’ve determined how much you want to claim, calculate your tax credit by calculating the eligible amount of your donations. Usually, this is the amount shown on your charitable donation receipt. Complete Schedule 9 to calculate your tax credit.

Step 3: Enter the amount you calculated on Schedule 9 on line 34900 of your return.

Keep your official donation receipts along with your proof of payment. This includes cancelled cheques and credit card or bank statements. You should keep your receipts for six years in case the CRA asks to see them.

Learn more about a charity

Learn more about a charity before you donate:

• Contact the charity directly for more information about its work
• Search the CRA’s list of charities for the charity's registration, contact, activities, and financial information
• Make an informal information request to the CRA
• Make an access to information request to the CRA

For more information on charities and donations, visit canada.ca/charities-donors. You can also check out our questions and answers about filing your taxes for help on COVID-19 taxable benefits, and the tax filing process.

Contacts

Media Relations
Canada Revenue Agency
613-948-8366
cra-arc.media@cra-arc.gc.ca

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