YV, Author at Charity Exchange

Have you done a search online for cross border charity?

YV — Thu, 10 Feb 2022 22:04:09 +0000

Have you done a search online for cross border charity?

Are you a Canadian or American donor looking to donate to a charity across the border? You may have searched online for a way to make a tax-deductible donation to a charity abroad. Finding a charity that can help you make a tax-deductible donation to a worthy charity in another country can be a challenge. There are few charities that support charitable work abroad but usually it is an affiliate charity operating in the other country or a specific charity they support.

Charity Exchange can help donors make tax-deductible donation in Canada, Israel and USA to any registered charity in Canada, Israel and the USA.

Searching online will produce the following result with very basic cross border charity information but no viable solution. Here are some results we found when doing a google search

What You Need to Know About Cross-Border Giving

Ensure that there are no sanctions against the country where the gift or grant will be made.

Cross-Border Philanthropy – A US Perspective

U.S. tax law imposes remarkably low barriers to cross–border philanthropy. Contributions to U.S. charities are deductible even if all charitable.

Can I claim donations made outside of Canada?

Community foundations can accept gifts from foreign donors and issue Canadian tax receipts. Charitable tax receipts issued in Canada can only be used to offset Canadian income. So, the tax receipt can only be applied if the donor has Canadian income from employment or other sources

Are donations made to other countries tax deductible?

The IRS reminds donors that contributions to foreign organizations generally are not deductible. Taxpayers must itemize their deductions on Schedule A for the year in which they made the contribution in order to take a charitable contribution deduction.

How to get a tax deduction for donations to US charities

Article content. Our tax system offers generous benefits to donors who choose to make gifts to registered charities. Individuals can claim both

Are donations to U.S. charities tax deductible in Canada

Canada also accepts donations made to eligible U.S. charities for a donation tax credit on the Canadian tax return. … First, the contribution is still subject to the 75% of net income threshold applied to Canadian donations. Secondly, the contribution to a U.S. charity must offset U.S. source income

How to get a tax deduction for donations to US charities

The tax treaty between Canada and the U.S. provides some limited tax relief for gifts made by Canadians to U.S. charitable organizations, but the rules are slightly complicated

_{Legal Notice: Opinions in this blog post do not reflect the opinion or endorsement of Charity Exchange or its affiliates. The opinions in this post should not be used as legal or financial advice for any financial decision. The advice or opinions shared in this blog post are solely those of the author and are not the opinion of Charity Exchange or its affiliates. For legal or financial advice, always consult with your financial advisor or legal council.}

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Top 10 Impact Charities in Canada in 2021

YV — Mon, 15 Nov 2021 14:47:58 +0000

Over $17 billion was given to charities by Canadian donors last year. Many charities make a significant difference in the lives of those they work with. Charity Intelligence analysed the impact of 300 charities to see which charities have the greatest impact and create the most positive change.

Charity Intelligence released the Top 10 Impact Charities for 2021. These charities are making the greatest impact on Canadians they work with.

The 2021 Top 10 Impact Charities include charities providing social services in Canada as well as international programs. Many of these charities bring clean water and education to developing countries and produce high impact per dollar. Six of this year’s Top 10 Impact Charities work overseas in developing countries.

Here is the list

Charity Location Sector
Against Malaria Foundation Canada Montreal, QC                     International – Health
Canadian Foodgrains Bank Winnipeg, MB                    International – Food Bank
The Citizens’ Foundation Oakville, ON International – Education
East York Learning Experience Toronto, ON Education
Effect Hope Markham, ON International – Health
Fresh Start Recovery Calgary, AB Addiction Recovery
Indspire Ohsweken, ON                 First Nations – Education
JUMP Math Toronto, ON National – Education
Lifewater Canada Thunder Bay, ON              International – Water
Operation Eyesight Universal Calgary, AB International – Health

Click here to read Charity Intelligence report https://www.charityintelligence.ca/charity-profiles/top-10-impact-charities

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Are you getting the most bang for your donated bucks

YV — Mon, 01 Nov 2021 19:14:05 +0000

Twenty Seven present of donors said they gave more in 2020 than the year before.

An interesting article by Rivan V. Stinson on October 28, 2021 in the Kiplinger.

When the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act nearly doubled the standard deduction starting with the 2018 tax year, charities and tax experts expected donations to drop. Nearly one-third of taxpayers itemized deductions—including charitable giving—before the tax law overhaul, and the number of itemizers fell to 11% in 2018. Because charitable givers would no longer have the same tax-deduction incentive, the thinking went, charitable giving would suffer.

Indeed, giving by individual donors dipped 4.2% in 2018 from the previous year, according to Giving USA Foundation and the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University. But in 2019, donations bounced back 4.7%. And charitable giving kept rising dramatically as Americans responded to the pandemic and a variety of natural disasters. In a recent Fidelity Charitable study, 27% of donors said they gave more in 2020 than the year before.

The pandemic also changed how some people give. Individual donors, corporations and family foundations gifted more money to general need funds or to a charity’s general operating fund instead of writing a check for a specific project. Some projects—such as after-school programs—were on hiatus due to local shutdowns, and donors became more concerned about addressing pressing needs, particularly food and housing.

Click here to continue reading the article.

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Disbursement quotas for Charities

YV — Thu, 21 Oct 2021 20:30:50 +0000

CRA to review the “disbursement quota” for charities

The “disbursement quota” for charities is under review by the CRA. The “disbursement quota” rule, contained in the Income Tax Act, has been applied since 1976 to the assets of charities not used for charitable activities or administration, which are most often endowments. It requires charities to spend a minimum amount each year on their own charitable programs or on gifts to qualified recipients.

The purpose of the quota is to prevent undue accumulation of these assets and to ensure that assets are disbursed for charitable purposes and activities. The current quota applies mostly to charities that are foundations, which follow a model of annual distribution of grants to other charities, in amounts ranging from the mandated minimum 3.5 per cent of capital assets set by the disbursement quota to four per cent or more, depending on a foundation’s approach. The current minimum was set in 2004 and has not been reviewed publicly since then. Most foundations, both private and public, have met or exceeded the minimum and the flow of charitable giving has steadily increased over the last 15 years as more donors create foundations or donor-advised funds.

Finance Canada stated, in a background paper released this summer, that an “effective disbursement quota should also ensure that adequate funding is available to support the current needs of the charitable sector”.

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How to get a tax deduction for donations to U.S. charities

YV — Tue, 12 Oct 2021 14:03:53 +0000

An interesting article by Janmie Golombek of CIBC Wealth Advisory Services in Toronto Published in the Financial Post explores how Canadians can get a tax deduction for a donation to a US charity.

In a nutshell, if your tax return includes some U.S. source income, such as U.S. dividends for example, you can claim your gifts to U.S. charities up to 75 per cent of the net U.S. income you reported on your Canadian return. In a couple of cases, however, you may be able to claim your U.S. gifts up to 75 per cent of your worldwide net income. The first situation is if you live in Canada, but near the U.S. border, throughout the year and commute to your principal workplace or business in the U.S., provided that U.S. employment or business was your main source of income for the year. Secondly, your U.S. donation claim won’t be limited to only your net U.S. income if your gift was made to a U.S. college or university at which you or a family member either is or was enrolled, or if your gift is to a prescribed U.S. university “the student body of which ordinarily includes students from Canada.”

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The tax treaty between Canada and the U.S. provides some limited tax relief for gifts made by Canadians to U.S. charitable organizations, but the rules are slightly complicated.

Our tax system offers generous benefits to donors who choose to make gifts to registered charities. Individuals can claim both federal and provincial tax credits worth up to 50 per cent of the amount donated, depending on your province of residence. Corporations can claim a deduction from their taxable income for qualifying donations. In both cases, the amount that can be claimed is limited to 75 per cent of net income for the year.

So, what exactly constitutes a valid donation?

How to get a tax deduction for donations to U.S. charities

Well for starters, the gift must be made to a registered charity, which is defined as a charitable organization, public or private foundation that is resident in Canada and that has obtained official Canada Revenue Agency registered status. As of this week, there are 85,881 registered charities in Canada.

You can find out whether the charity you wish to benefit is registered by visiting the CRA’s website (cra-arc.gc.ca) and on the “Charities and giving” page, going to the “Charities Search” box.

But what if you make a donation to a U.S. charity?

You’re in luck, since the tax treaty between Canada and the U.S. does provide some limited tax relief for gifts made by Canadian residents and corporations to U.S. charitable organizations, but the rules are slightly complicated.

A recent decision from the Court of Quebec, however, spells trouble for Quebec donors looking to donate money to U.S. charities. The court ruled that a Quebec manufacturing company was precluded from claiming nearly $500,000 worth of U.S. donations on its Quebec return against its U.S. source income, finding that the section of the Canada-U.S. tax treaty that would otherwise allow the claim doesn’t apply to Quebec since Quebec is not a party to the Treaty.

Troy McEachren, a tax partner with Miller Thomson LLP in Montreal, called the court’s interpretation “problematic” in a case comment issued this week. He argues that the interpretation is “overly technical and ignores the purpose of the provision, which is to permit the application to Quebec’s fiscal legislation of the effects of tax treaties entered into by Canada.”

Fortunately for Quebec donors, the company has appealed the decision to the Court of Appeal of Quebec. So, stay tuned, but in the meantime, Quebec donors may wish to tread cautiously.

Click here to read the full article

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University Alumni living in Canada donating to US Organizations.

YV — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 16:18:30 +0000

The top 20 universities in the United States are Harvard University, Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of California, Berkeley (UCB), Columbia University, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Yale University, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, Cornell University, New York University (NYU), University of Chicago, Duke University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Southern California, Northwestern University, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Michigan, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Brown University.

There are many Canadian residents who are expats or are alumni of Universities or Colleges in the United States. At times the university, college or community organization in the US hold fundraisers and the expat or alumni seek to donate and or support their cause. Often the question of receiving a Canadian tax-deductible receipt for the donation to the charity in the US is discussed and explored.

For example, alumnus of Harvard University, Stanford University or Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who are living in Canada and want to support their former school with a donation of $10,000. When sending the donation directly to the American institution, the university may issue a US tax-deductible receipt. However, the former student is currently residing and working in Canada and the US tax-deductible receipt offers no tax benefit or deduction on their tax return.

Charity Exchange offers a solution that can help alumnus in Canada of US educational institutions make a US tax-deductible donation to the Canadian institution through their donation matching program. The donor signs up for a charity exchange donor advised fund account and makes a matching donation using the global matching donation platform. The donations is matched with donors in the US and the US charity or institution receives their donation from the US Donor Advised Foundation.

To learn more about the donation matching program click here

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Alumni living in the US donating to charities in Canada.

YV — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 14:09:26 +0000

The top 10 universities in Canada are University of Toronto, The University of British, Simon Fraser University, McGill University, University of Waterloo, York University, University of Alberta, Queen’s University, University of Calgary, McMaster University.

There are US residents who are expats or are alumni of Universities or Colleges in Canada. At times the university, college or community organization hold fundraisers and the expat or alumni seek to donate and or support their cause. Often the question of receiving a US tax-deductible receipt for the donation to the charity in Canada is discussed and explored.

For example, alumnus of the University of Toronto, McGill University of Montreal or University of BC who are living in the US and want to support their former school with a donation of $5,000. When sending the donation directly to the Canadian institution, the university may issue a Canadian tax-deductible receipt. However, the former student are currently residing and working in the US and the Canadian tax-deductible receipt offers no tax benefit or deduction on their tax return.

Charity Exchange offers a solution that can help alumnus of educational institutions in Canada make a US tax-deductible donation to the Canadian institution through their donation matching program. The donor signs up for a charity exchange donor advised fund account and makes a matching donation using the global matching donation platform. The donations is matched with donors in Canada and the Canadian charity or institution receives their donation from the Canadian Donor Advised Foundation.

To learn more about the donation matching program click here

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Tax-Deductible Donations to Yeshiva or Seminary in Israel, Canada or USA

YV — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 17:44:05 +0000

Are you looking to make a tax-deductible donation to a charity abroad?

Would you like to send charitable funds to a Yeshiva, seminary, Shul, Chessed organization, school, camp, or any other charitable organization outside your home country? Do you run a charity and have Donors in other countries who would like to make a tax-deductible donation to your charity?

Charity Exchange Can help! Charity Exchange’s new and revolutionary method of cross border donations can help donors and charities make tax-deductible donations to charities abroad.

Charity Exchange’s charitable foundation and Donor Advised Fund operates in the USA, Canada and Israel. The Foundation offers a Global Donation Matching program. The Global Donation Matching program is a great tool for donors to use when seeking to support charities outside their home country. The benefit of donating to the foundation and using the donation matching program, is that all donations are tax-deductible. Donors receive a tax-deductible receipt for funds deposited to their Donor Advised Fund Account.

How does the matching donation program work?

The concept of the global matching donation program is to pair two (or more) donors from different countries and match their donations. Each donor’s donation supports the other donor’s charity.

Here is an example of how it works.

Justin, from Montreal Canada, wants to make a $1,300 CAD donation to the American Red Cross. Justin sets up an account and creates a $1,300 donation to be matched and sent to the American Red Cross. The donation is pending on the charity exchange platform until a matching donation is found in the USA.

How is a matching donation found?

Joe, from Washington DC in the USA, wants to make a $1,000 USD donation to Feed the Poor Canada organization. Joe creates a $1,000 donation to be matched and sent to Feed the Poor Canada. The donation is instantly matched with Justin’s pending donation to the American Red Cross.

The result, Justin from Canada’s $1,300 CAD donation is sent to Feed the Poor Canada to support Joe’s, from Washington, selected charity. And Joe from Washington $1,000 USD donation is sent to the American Red Cross to support Justin’s, from Canada, selected charity. Essentially the donors exchange donations by making a recommendation (to the Donor Advised fund) to donate their funds to the charity the other donor selected.

To use the service, the donor would need to open a Charity Exchange account and deposit a donation to their Donor Advised Fund account. Once the funds are donated and cleared in the Donor’s account the donor can recommend a donation to any registered charity in the countries Charity Exchange operates in using the matching donation program. Charity Exchange operates in Canada, Israel, and the USA.

Is personal information kept private?

Yes, the donor’s personal information is strictly private and confidential. When a donation match is made and paired with another donor’s donation the donors do not see who they are matched with. Only the receiving charity can see the donor who selected their charity for their donation but not the other donor. Charity Exchange has a strict privacy policy and does not share personal information with any other party.

Are there other unique features offered by Charity Exchange?

Yes. We accept Bitcoin and other Crypto currency donations

Crypto currency donations are an emerging trend for charitable giving. More and more donors are looking to donate crypto to their favourite charities. However, many charities do not have the know how or the tools to accept crypto donations.

Charity Exchange provides a platform for donors and charities to donate and accept crypto currency. Donors deposit their crypto currency into their Donor Advised Fund account and receive a tax-deductible receipt for the fair market value of their crypto currency. Donors then gift the donation to any registered charity in the countries Charity Exchange operates in.

Can Charities Use the Crypto Donate service to accept donations?

Yes. Charities can open a Charity Exchange account and direct donors to their charity profile page on the Charity Exchange platform. Charities can also track the incoming donations and send thank you letters to donors directly from their charity account.

How does Charity Exchange accept crypto currency?

Charity Exchange currently accepts three types of crypto currency, BITCOIN, ETHEREUM and USDC. Donors deposit crypto currency into their Donor Advised Fund account. Once the deposit is complete, charity exchange converts the crypto currency to USDC and redeems the USDC crypto currency for the local fiat currency. In the US it is converted to USD, in Canada to CAD and in Israel to Israeli Shekels. This process helps avoid potential fluctuations in the market and stabilize the value of the crypto currency. It ensure that the charity receive the maximum financial value intended by the donor at the time of the gift. It also allows the donor to put the funds to use immediately.

To sign up or to learn more about the matching donation program or crypto donations visit www.charity.exchange

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