The Charitable Donation Tax Credit

You gave to a charity this year, and the question now is what it's worth back to you. In 2026 your federal credit is 14% on your first $200 of donations and 29% on everything after that, and your province adds a second credit on top. So a $1,000 gift takes $260 off your federal tax, before your province. It lands on your tax bill rather than on your income. And if you're giving from an investment account, handing over the shares themselves keeps the capital gain off your return completely.

Key takeaways

• In 2026 you'll get 14% back on your first $200 of donations and 29% on the rest, before your province adds its own credit.
• It's non-refundable, so it only cuts tax you already owe. If you owe nothing this year, you get nothing back, though you can still use the receipt later.
• If you donate a listed stock or fund unit directly rather than selling it first, your taxable capital gain is zero and you've still got a receipt for the full value.
• You can hold a receipt for up to five years, so if you claim two or three years of giving at once you'll get more of your total into the 29% band.

Where your donation lands on the return

You're claiming a credit here. That isn't the same thing as a deduction. Those shrink the income you're taxed on before any tax is worked out. Your donation credit gets worked out on its own and then knocked off the tax itself, so inside the 29% band what you get back doesn't rise with your income, even against somebody earning three times what you do. Two things change that. Reaching the top federal bracket lifts your rate, and owing no tax at all leaves you nothing to claim it against.

It's also non-refundable.¹ Your credit can wipe out tax you owe, but it can't turn into a refund by itself. If you earn little enough that you owe no federal tax, your donation gives you nothing back this year. You haven't lost it, though. If you keep the receipt, it goes on a later year's return instead.

You claim it on line 34900 of your return. The arithmetic behind it sits on a form called Schedule 9.⁵ Your software fills that in for you, though that's where every rule in this credit is written down.

What you get back on the first $200

The first $200 you give in a year is credited at the lowest federal rate. Everything you give after that is credited at 29%.² For 2026 the lowest federal rate is 14%,⁴ so you'll get $28 back on your first $200, and 29 cents on every dollar you give after it.

That $200 step sits in the Income Tax Act. It's a flat amount, and it doesn't move with inflation.² You get it once against your whole claim for the year, not once per charity. Spread $1,000 across five charities and you end up in exactly the same place.

Look this up on the Canada Revenue Agency's own donation page and you'll see 14.5%, which is the rate for the 2025 tax year.¹ The lowest federal rate came down to 14% for 2026,⁴ so which of the two applies to you depends on the tax year you're claiming for.

When the 33% rate is available

Some donors reach a third rate of 33%, though far fewer than three listed rates suggest. You only reach it to the extent your taxable income sits in the top federal bracket. That starts at $258,482 in 2026.²⁴ Your credit at that rate is capped at the smaller of two figures, what you gave over $200 and how much of your income lands in that top bracket.²

So if your taxable income is $120,000 and you give $5,000, none of your gift earns 33%. Whatever you've got left once that band is filled earns 29% instead, and 29% is written into the Act as a fixed number rather than as a bracket rate.² Most people are only ever dealing with two rates.

Donating stock instead of selling it first

If you're giving from a non-registered investment account, one choice here is worth more than any other.

Normally you're taxed on half the gain when you sell something that has grown in value. That half gets added to your income.³ Sell shares to free up cash for a charity and that's what happens. You pay the tax first, then you donate what's left.

Give the shares themselves to the charity and your taxable capital gain becomes zero.³ You still get a receipt for what they're worth on the day you hand them over, and the gain never reaches your return at all.

The rule covers a specific list, and what you hold has to be on it. In practice you're covered for ordinary stocks, exchange-traded funds and mutual funds held outside a registered account, along with segregated fund interests and certain listed debt.³ Your crypto is not, and neither are your shares in a private company.

You've got two things to sort out first. Not every charity is set up to receive securities, so most people ask before starting a transfer. The larger ones almost always are. And there's nothing here for a holding you're down on. If your shares are worth less than you paid, giving them away throws out a capital loss you could have used, so most people sell those first and donate the cash.

The provincial half

Every province and territory adds a second credit of its own, and what you get back depends on which one you're in.¹ In Alberta your first $200 is credited at 60% and everything above it at 21%.¹ Everywhere else your first $200 is credited at that province's own lowest rate. That's usually between 4% and 11%.

Quebec runs its donation credit through its own tax system rather than the federal tables. If you file there, your figures come from Revenu Québec, not from the table here.¹

Working out your own number is simple enough. Start with the federal $260 on a $1,000 gift, then add what your province gives you. On the latest published provincial rates that's most people between $360 and $450 in total, and nearer $550 if you're in Alberta.¹ Those provincial rates carry the same 2025 stamp as the federal one. Yours may have moved. Where you lived on December 31 decides which set applies to you. If you want the bracket detail behind your own provincial rate, the guide on provincial brackets lays it out.

Not every good cause counts

You can only claim a gift you made to a qualified donee.¹ That's a defined group, and it's narrower than "a good cause". Most of the time you're giving to a registered charity. You're also covered for registered amateur athletic associations, registered journalism organizations and registered low-cost housing corporations for the aged. Canadian governments count, along with registered municipalities and registered public bodies doing the work of government, and so do some universities outside Canada and the United Nations and its agencies.⁵ A few foreign charities count too, if they've had a gift from the Government of Canada.⁵

You can't claim a crowdfunding gift to a family in trouble, however good the reason. Neither will a political party, which has a separate credit of its own, and nor will a foreign charity outside that narrow exception. If you can't get an official donation receipt for it, you can't claim it.

What you claim isn't always what you gave, either. You claim the eligible amount. That's what you handed the charity, minus whatever you got back for it.¹ Say you give $1,000 to a ballet company and it sends you three $50 tickets. Those are worth $150, so your eligible amount is $850.¹

Three donors, one $1,000 gift

Three people give $1,000 each. Where you're giving it from changes what you get back.

Maya, renting on one income. She gives $1,000 in cash over the year. Federally that's $28 on her first $200 and $232 on the rest, with her provincial credit on top. If you're giving at that level, the receipts are worth keeping in one place, because a $40 receipt you lose is about $12 of federal credit gone. You'll find her in "The System That Runs Itself".

Nadia and Theo, raising kids on two pay cheques. They give $600 and $400 to different charities. Schedule 9 lets one partner claim gifts made by either of them. So the whole $1,000 goes on a single return.⁵ That way they cross the $200 low band once between them instead of twice, which is worth roughly $30 to them. If you and a partner both give, you'd want to do the same. You can see how tight their month already runs in "Treading Water".

Joanne, close to retirement with a non-registered account. She holds $1,000 of a fund outside her registered accounts, and she was going to sell it and give the cash. Handing the units straight over instead gets her the same $1,000 receipt with no taxable gain on her return.³ Her next step is one call to the charity, to ask whether it takes securities, then a transfer form from her brokerage. If you're holding funds the way she is, that's your route too. You'll meet her working out what she owns in "Counting What's Already There".

Saving it for a bigger year

You get to choose which year you claim a gift in, and it doesn't have to be the year you gave it. You can carry it forward for up to five years, or ten years for a gift of ecologically sensitive land.¹

That's worth real money, because your $200 low band resets every year. Give $500 a year for three years and claim each one as it happens, and you put $600 through the 14% band. Hold the receipts and claim $1,500 at once, and you put $200 through it.

You're bound by two conditions here. Your oldest receipts get used first, because carried-forward gifts have to be claimed before current-year ones.¹ You can't hold one back to ripen. You're also capped in any year at 75% of your net income.¹ Certain gifts of capital property, and gifts made in the year someone passes away, can reach 100% instead.¹ That second one belongs to a final return and carries rules of its own.

You pay something for waiting, too. A receipt's only good for five years, and you go without the credit until you use it. You'll gain most from bunching if you're already giving steadily and none of your years is unusual.

Only you can weigh how your own income moves across those years. If it's going to drop, or you've got a large gain coming, the year you claim deserves some thought. Your 75% ceiling gets measured against net income, which your notice of assessment reports at line 23600.

Our read on giving

Most people giving cash in ordinary amounts claim it in the year they gave it, because the paperwork is simpler and the difference is small. If you're giving from a non-registered investment account, most people in your position hand over the securities rather than the cash, because the same gift costs them measurably less once the capital gain is out of it. And couples mostly claim a year's giving on one return, which is worth about $30 to them federally.

The honest split is on bunching. Plenty of steady givers claim every year and are perfectly happy doing it. You'd gain from waiting if you've got an unusually high-income year coming, or several small years of receipts already sitting in a drawer. Otherwise it's a wash.

None of it settles the question for you. What you get back depends on where you live and on whether you're giving cash or shares, and both of those swing the number further than the rules do.

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Common questions

Do I get my whole donation back at tax time?+

No. You get a percentage back as a credit against tax you owe, and you don't get the gift itself. Federally in 2026 that's 14 cents in the dollar up to $200, then 29 cents, or 33 cents on the part matched by income in the top bracket. Your province pays more on top.

Can my spouse and I combine our donations?+

Yes, and most couples do. One of you can claim gifts made by either of you, so you're only crossing the low-rate first $200 once between you instead of once each.

What happens if I owe no tax this year?+

You get nothing back this year, because the credit can only cancel tax you'd otherwise owe. Keep your receipt and use it against a later year's tax instead. You've got up to five years.

Is a GoFundMe donation claimable?+

Almost never. Most crowdfunding raises money for a person or a family, and you can only claim a gift that went to a registered charity or another qualified donee. Without an official receipt, you've nothing to put on your return.

Is a bank statement enough proof?+

No, you'll need the official donation receipt the organization issues you. It's worth checking the amount on it too, because anything you got back in return will have reduced it.

What if I give more than 75% of my net income?+

You claim up to your ceiling this year and carry the rest forward, and you've got five years to use it. If you're giving capital property, some gifts let you claim against as much as 100% of your net income, and so do gifts you make in the year someone passes away.

Sources

1. CRADonations and gifts, line 34900: how much you can claim. The 75% of net income limit, the five and ten year carry-forward, the ordering rule, the eligible amount and advantage, and the provincial rate table. Accessed 2026-09-07.
2. Justice Laws WebsiteIncome Tax Act, s. 118.1(3): the donation credit formula, the flat $200 threshold, the 29% rate, and the cap tying the 33% rate to income taxed in the top bracket. The $200 is absent from the indexation list at s. 117.1(2), and s. 248(1) defines the credit rate on it as the lowest percentage in s. 117(2). Accessed 2026-09-07.
3. Justice Laws WebsiteIncome Tax Act, s. 38: half of a capital gain is taxable under paragraph (a), and the taxable gain is zero under paragraph (a.1) on a gift of listed securities to a qualified donee. Accessed 2026-09-07.
4. CRACurrent year tax rates and income brackets (2026): the lowest federal rate of 14% and the top bracket starting at $258,482. Accessed 2026-09-07.
5. CRASchedule 9, Donations and Gifts (5000-S9): line 13 applies the $200 step to the return's total, the schedule covers gifts made by either spouse, and it lists the kinds of organization that qualify. Accessed 2026-09-07.

Educational, not financial advice. Figures verified against primary sources on the date shown.

See it in a story: "Counting What's Already There," where Joanne works out what she owns. If you're weighing up a gift of shares, how capital gains are taxed covers what selling first would have cost you, and the guide on crypto tax explains why digital assets sit outside this rule. Or browse the whole taxes hub.