Minister Shea encourages Canadians to support great local charities and receive tax benefits

June 24, 2013... The Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of National Revenue and Minister for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, today encouraged Canadians to take advantage of the Harper Government’s new First Time Donor’s Super Credit and make a difference in their communities by giving to a registered Canadian charity. Minister Shea highlighted the new tax credit from Economic Action Plan 2013 while touring a home under construction by Habitat for Humanity in PEI.

"Canadians have a long and proud history of supporting those in need,” said Minister Shea. “We want to continue to foster and promote Canada’s culture of giving. That’s why our Government has introduced this new tax credit to encourage Canadians to give generously to charities that do so much good work in our communities.”

Economic Action Plan 2013 responded to the report by the Standing Committee of Finance on tax incentives for charitable giving by proposing a new temporary First-Time Donor’s Super Credit designed to encourage new donors to give to charity.

This new credit will significantly enhance the attractiveness of donating to a charity for Canadians who are in a position to make donations for the first time.

Cash donations made by first-time donors after March 20, 2013 now qualify for the first-time donor’s super credit. An individual qualifies as a first-time donor if neither they nor their spouse or common-law partner has claimed the charitable donation tax credit since 2007.

“We hope that this credit will encourage Canadians to get involved in giving to our country’s great charities, expanding the donor base for the charitable sector. Our goal is a healthy, vibrant charitable sector that can continue to make an essential contribution to the well-being of our communities.” added Minister Shea.

The first-time donor’s super credit gives you an extra 25% credit when you claim your charitable donation tax credit. This means that you can get a 40% credit for donations of $200 or less, and a 54% credit for the portion of donations that are over $200 up to $1,000.

“We are very pleased that the Government has introduced this new tax credit,” said Susan Zambonin, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity PEI. “It will make giving to charities like ours even more attractive to Canadians who’ve been considering a donation. Getting more Islanders to donate will help us to get even more families into affordable housing.”

More information about the first-time donor’s super credit is available on the CRA Web site or the Government of Canada’s Economic Action Plan Web site.

Donate wisely by researching charities using the CRA’s Charities Listings before you donate. For more information about donating to charities, go to www.cra.gc.ca/donors.

Canada Revenue Agency

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