Getting your donors their tax receipts should be simple. In this article, we’ll walk through what tax receiptable amounts are and how to calculate them easily.
If you plan to offer tax receipts to your donors, it’s important to understand how to determine the Total Tax Receiptable Amount. Not all funds raised qualify for a tax receipt—only the donation portion does.
Tax receipts can only be issued for donations. When donors attend a fundraising event or purchase a ticket, part of the payment goes toward the actual experience (like food and drinks), and the remaining amount is considered a donation.
Important Reminder
To issue a tax receipt, the tax receiptable amount must be set before the item is sold. Once a ticket or item has been purchased, you cannot go back and retroactively assign a tax receiptable amount. If this field is left blank at the time of sale, a tax receipt cannot be processed for that transaction.
Understanding the Value Received
The value received refers to what the attendee gets in return—typically, things like:
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Food and beverages
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Gift bags or physical items
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Entertainment or venue access
To find this amount, calculate the per-person cost of what was provided at the event.
For example:
If a ticket costs $150 and the food and entertainment cost $50 per person, then the tax receiptable amount is $100.
Formula:
Ticket Price – Value Received = Total Tax Receiptable Amount
Pro Tips
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If you don’t want to issue tax receipts, leave the Total Tax Receiptable Amount field blank when entering ticket details.
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If a donor uses a promo code, the discounted price might reduce or eliminate the tax receiptable portion. The CRA has guidelines on this—please refer to their official documentation for more.
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Processing fees passed on to donors are not tax receiptable. For clarity on specific scenarios, reach out to the CRA directly.
Need Help?
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