Are you issuing/receiving correct tax receipts?

Of the over 85,000 registered charities in Canada, most issue tax receipts correctly. However, there are a few that aren't completely up-to-date when it comes to having all the required information listed on an official tax receipt. If you are a donor and have received a tax receipt that doesn't have the required information and if your donation is selected for review then it may not be accepted and/or may cause a few headaches. 

When issuing or receiving an official charitable tax receipt make sure it has all of the following: 

• a statement that it is an official receipt for income tax purposes;
• name and address of the charity as on file with the Canada Revenue Agency;
• charity's registration number;
• serial number of the receipt;
• place or locality where the receipt was issued;
• day or year donation was received;
• day on which the receipt was issued if it differs from the day of donation;
• full name, including middle initial, and address of the donor;
• amount of the gift;
• (under proposed legislation) value and description of any advantage received by the donor;
• (under proposed legislation) eligible amount of the gift;
• signature of an individual authorized by the charity to acknowledge donations; and
• name and Web site address of the Canada Revenue Agency - www.cra.gc.ca/charities.

For non-cash gifts (gifts in kind), these additional elements:

• day on which the donation was received (if not already indicated);
• brief description of the property transferred to the charity;
• name and address of the appraiser (if property was appraised); and
• (under proposed legislation) deemed fair market value of the property in place of amount of gift above.

This information may change from time-to-time. Please visit the CRA website to make sure your receipts are being issued correctly.

Click here to view some sample receipts.