If you gave money to a federal political party, association, or candidate during the year, part of what you gave may come back to you as a non-refundable tax credit. The receipt you were handed at the time is what supports the claim.
Two lines are involved. Your total eligible federal contributions go on line 40900 of your federal tax return, and the credit you work out from that total goes on line 41000.
What you can claim
Generally, you can claim the federal political contribution tax credit for contributions you made during the tax year to:
- a registered federal political party
- a registered federal electoral district association
- a candidate in a federal election
A political contribution is a monetary or non-monetary contribution made to a registered federal political entity under the Canada Elections Act.
You can claim contributions you made. You may also claim your spouse's or common-law partner's contributions, as long as they do not claim them.
When you got something back for the contribution
If you received, or expect to receive, an advantage for making a contribution, you cannot claim the whole amount. The eligible amount is the portion of your contribution that is more than the fair market value of the advantage — fair market value being what the thing would fetch in an open sale.
An advantage generally includes the value of any property, service, compensation, use, or other benefit you receive.
The eligible amount is the number the receipt should carry, and it is the number that goes on line 40900.
How the credit is worked out
The credit is calculated from your total eligible federal contributions for the year. Above a set total, you claim a fixed amount. Below it, you calculate your claim on the chart for line 41000 of your 5000-D1 Federal Worksheet. Either way, the result goes on line 41000 when you file.
There is a provincial or territorial credit as well, and what you can claim may vary depending on the province or territory you lived in at the end of the year. For most provinces and territories the amount goes on Form 428. If you lived in Nunavut, it goes on Form NU479; in Ontario, on Form ON479; in Quebec, refer to Revenu Québec.
What your receipt must show
The CRA asks for official receipts, but its page for this credit does not set out the fields a receipt has to carry. What the claim turns on is the eligible amount of the contribution — the whole amount where you got nothing in return, and the part above the fair market value of the advantage where you did.
Some contributions are already reported to you on a slip rather than a receipt. Do not send official receipts for contributions reported:
- in box 14 of your T5003 slip
- in box 184 of your T5013 slip
- on a financial statement showing an amount a partnership allocated to you
Those still support the claim — they are simply reported to the CRA already, so the paper does not need to travel with your return.
What to keep
Keep your official receipts for every federal political contribution you claim, and keep your spouse's or common-law partner's receipts too if you are claiming their contributions.
If you file electronically, do not send any supporting documents with your return. Keep them in case the CRA asks to see them later. If you file on paper, attach your official receipts to the return.
Dossier tags a political contribution receipt when it arrives and files it with the year it belongs to, so the receipts are together and legible when you file.
Official CRA sources
Source: Canada Revenue Agency (canada.ca). Not tax advice.