Tax time is easier with Charitable Impact

Accessing your charitable tax receipts through Charitable Impact makes things simpler and easier.

Some Canadians really enjoy doing their taxes (up to 41% apparently!). Even if you take satisfaction from doing your taxes, nobody likes organizing those reams of charitable tax receipts. Or, even worse, trying to find a missing one (“Was that donation in May or September?”). 

Actually, a lot of Canadians don’t claim their charitable tax receipts and miss out on saving money. Is that you? Read on to learn 5 reasons why it’s easy to use Charitable Impact to access your charitable tax receipts—plus, tips on why it’s simply smart to claim them for tax credits.

1. Access all your charitable tax receipts in one place.

Charities vary in their administration of tax receipts. If you give to multiple charities, your receipts will be dispersed differently. Some organizations issue receipts immediately, while others delay sending them (either via email or snail mail). Certain charities do not issue receipts for smaller donations—or even at all. According to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA): “Although qualified donees may issue official donation receipts, they are not required to do so.” 

Depending on how many charities you support, it can become difficult to keep track of all your donations. Charitable Impact centralizes all your tax receipts in one accessible place, making it easier to find, download, and submit your receipts towards tax credits. We use the same security and encryption as online banks to keep donors’ information safe and protect your privacy.

No matter how much you give or which charities you support, you will get an immediate and accurate tax receipt when you add money to your Impact Account. When it’s time to submit your taxes, we have easy instructions to access and download your charitable tax receipts from your desktop or mobile device. 

In just a few minutes, you will have taken steps to save money and potentially do more with your giving. (If you give through Charitable Impact without an Impact Account, your tax receipt will be emailed to the address you provided when you made your donation.)

Tip: You can also access receipts from previous years, which can be useful in case you are subject to an audit. Plus, the CRA allows you to claim any unclaimed charitable contributions made in the previous five years. 

2. Save time and money.

Claiming your charitable donations means you can give more. Looking at it another way, your giving costs you less—as intended by Canada’s income tax laws. 

Most Canadians say they give to charity, but only a portion of these actually claim their charitable tax receipts. According to the Fraser Institute, fewer than 20% of Canadian tax filers give charitably—and that number is declining. This may indicate that fewer people are giving, or that fewer people are claiming their tax receipts. Either way, it’s something that can be improved through more thoughtful and strategic giving strategies. 

When donation tax credits go unclaimed, that money is lost to the donor. Tax receipts translate to tax credits, which reduce the amount of tax you owe. Claiming your tax receipts saves you money that you can reinvest into causes you care about or spend in other important ways. 

Canada has a generous tax credit system to reward donors for giving to charity. The federal charitable tax credit rate is 15% on the first $200 and 29% on donations above that amount—meaning the more you give, the higher your tax credit.

Notably, a federal tax credit rate of 33% may apply to donations when an individual’s taxable income exceeds the top personal tax bracket of $200,000.

More information is available through the Government of Canada’s website. You may also be entitled to additional provincial or territorial credits—up to over 20% of the donation amount. 

Tip: For an estimate of your charitable tax credits, use the CRA’s online calculator. 

3. Get your receipt now, give it meaningfully when you are ready. 

Charitable Impact operates as a donor-advised fund (DAF). That means you get your own account to manage your giving. When you add money to your Impact Account you’re actually making a donation to Charitable Impact Foundation, a registered charity and public foundation. 

You will receive an immediate tax receipt whenever you add money to your Impact Account, even if you haven’t yet decided which charities to support. You can keep funds in your Impact Account until you decide where you’d like to send charitable gifts to others, including charities, Giving Groups, or friends and family.

To clarify, you only get a tax receipt when you add money to your Impact Account. You do not receive receipts upon sending money from your Impact Account to a charity. This is because we issued an immediate tax receipt when you put money into your account. 

Tip: Did you know that the most tax-effective way of giving is by donating appreciated publicly traded securities? Talk to us about giving non-cash assets and learn more. You can act on your generosity in more ways than one: donate publicly traded securities, real estate, life insurance, cryptocurrency, and private company shares. 

4. Make your giving more strategic.

With an Impact Account, you get to choose how you give. Some donors will add money and send it to charities of their choice right way. Others contribute to charities when they feel inspired or when they are asked. Donors can confidently make larger donations when the timing is right, knowing they can take the time to make allocations to charities in subsequent years. 

Think about how much you want to give, based on your budget and your giving goals, and build your giving strategy from that point. Flipping the fundraising paradigm on its head, you shouldn’t need to wait until you are asked to craft your own proactive giving journey. 

Any way about it, when you give with an Impact Account managing and filing charitable tax receipts becomes easy. This increases the tax effectiveness, potential impact, and joy of your giving.

If you have any questions, get in touch with one of our team members. We are here to answer any questions you may have about your giving. 

Tip: With an automatic monthly deposit, you can give according to your own budget, when you are ready. Figure out how how much you want to give in a year, divide that amount by 12, and then set up a deposit for the calculated amount. The funds will be available to give to charities of your choice throughout the year.  

5. Feel more confidence and joy in your giving.

By giving through Charitable Impact, you know that you will receive an accurate tax receipt issued immediately and stored for you in your Impact Account. You can then focus on how to create the most impact and can give with confidence to registered charities across Canada. 

Our charity search engine helps donors discover charities—from new gems to familiar favourites. We include information published by the CRA for the approximately 86K registered charities nationwide. 

Not all charities have the resources to handle tax receipts. Data shows that most registered charities audited by the CRA are not correctly issuing donation receipts. By giving through your Impact Account, you can avoid this problem. 

Whether you give to a small local charity in your community or to a major national organization, you have already received a receipt for the money added to your Impact Account. 

At Charitable Impact, our mission is to nurture the generosity within each of us, and to bring the joy of giving to everyone. Claiming your charitable tax credits can be part of that.

Above all, we think giving can and should be an enjoyable, uplifting, and personally meaningful experience that leads to the change you want to see in the world. Because the brighter future you imagine is worth having. 

Tip: Only by giving through a DAF, you separate the decision of giving from where to give—allowing you the time to find causes and charities that are personally meaningful. Charitable Impact is the first accessible online DAF in Canada. Opening and using an Impact Account is free, and you can get started by adding $5, $500, or more.

We’re here to support your giving. Call (1-877-531-0580), email ([email protected]), or chat (www.charitableimpact.com) with a member of our team. Remember, you can manage all your charitable giving on the go with the Impact Account app. It’s one app for all your giving. Download your Impact Account app now for your iOS or Android device. 

We hope you find this material useful in learning about giving. However, you should never use this material without first reviewing it with your own lawyer(s) and tax advisor(s) to determine its suitability for your circumstances. This material is not legal, tax or other professional advice.