Line 349 - Donations and gifts ▼

Line 349 - Donations and gifts ▼

You can claim donations either you or your spouse or common-law partner made. Enter your claim from the calculation on Schedule 9. See Pamphlet P113, Gifts and Income Tax, for more information about donations and gifts or if you made any of the following:

• gifts of property other than cash (gifts in kind);

• gifts to qualified donees outside Canada; or

• gifts to Canada, a province, or a territory.

  Notes

  The calculation for donations made in 2016 and subsequent years has changed. For more information, see Schedule 9, Donations and Gifts.

  These gifts do not include contributions to political parties. If you contributed to a federal political party, see lines 409 and 410 to find out about claiming a credit. If you contributed to a provincial or territorial political party, see the provincial or territorial forms in the forms book to find out about claiming a credit. If you are a resident of Quebec, refer to your provincial guide.

  Monetary gifts to Canada should be made payable to the Receiver General of Canada. Send the gift, along with a note stating that the money is a gift to Canada, to: Place du Portage, Phase III, 11 Laurier Street, Gatineau QC  K1A 0S5. If you made such a gift, you should have been given an official donation receipt.

Supporting documents - If you are filing electronically, keep all your documents in case we ask to see them later. If you are filing a paper return, attach your completed Schedule 9 but do not send your other documents. Keep them in case we ask to see them later.

Allowable charitable donations (line 340 of Schedule 9)

Add up all the eligible amounts of your donations to registered charities and other qualified donees made in 2016 plus donations made in any of the previous five years that have not been claimed before. This includes gifts to Canada, a province, or a territory. For a list of qualified donees, use Info-Tax, one of our Tax Information Phone Services (see page 73), or see Pamphlet P113, Gifts and Income Tax.

The eligible amount is the amount by which the fair market value of your gift exceeds any advantage you received or will receive for making the gift. Generally, an advantage includes the value of certain property, service, compensation, use, or any other benefit. For more information, see Pamphlet P113, Gifts and Income Tax.

Generally, you can claim on line 340 all or part of the eligible amount of these donations, up to a limit of 75% of your net income for the year. You may be able to increase this limit if you donate capital property (including depreciable property). For more information, see Pamphlet P113, Gifts and Income Tax. For the year a person dies and the year before that, this limit is 100% of the person's net income.

Note
If you have taken a vow of perpetual poverty as a member of a religious order, this limit does not apply.

Claim your donations on line 256 of your return.

Tax Tip
You do not have to claim on your return for 2016 the donations you made in 2016. It may be more beneficial for you to carry them forward and claim them on your return for any of the next five years. No matter when you claim them, you can claim them only once.

Donations of certain flow-through share properties may result in a deemed capital gain that is subject to an inclusion rate of 50%. For more information, see Pamphlet P113, Gifts and Income Tax and Guide T4037, Capital Gains.

For deaths that occur after 2015, donations made by will and designation donations are no longer deemed to be made by an individual immediately before the individual's death. For more information, see Pamphlet P113, Gifts and Income Tax.

Cultural and ecological gifts (line 342 of Schedule 9)

Unlike other donations, your total eligible amount claimed for these types of gifts is not limited to a percentage of net income. You can choose the part you claim in 2016 and carry forward any unused part for up to five years.

For donations of ecologically sensitive lands made after February 10, 2014, the carry-forward period is up to 10 years.

For donations of certified cultural property made after February 10, 2014, special rules apply when the property was acquired through a gifting arrangement that is a tax shelter.

For more information about these gifts and the amounts you can claim, see Pamphlet P113, Gifts and Income Tax.

First-time donor's super credit (FDSC) (line 343 of Schedule 9)

For 2013 to 2017, if you are a first-time donor, you can claim up to $1,000 of donations of money made after March 20, 2013, for the FDSC. This credit is calculated by multiplying the eligible amount of these donations by 25%.

This is in addition to the credit already allowed for these same donations that you and your spouse or common-law partner claimed on line 340 of Schedule 9.

To qualify as a first-time donor, neither you nor your spouse or common-law partner can have claimed and been allowed a charitable donations tax credit for any year after 2007. If you have a spouse or common-law partner, you can share the FDSC, but the total combined donations claimed cannot exceed $1,000.

Enter the amount of the gift on line 343 of Schedule 9. For more information, go to cra.gc.ca/fdsc.