Ordinary personal charitable gifts under CRA's 2025 guidance. Special gifts, estates and future-year rate comparisons are excluded.
You may claim all or part of an eligible donation in the year of the gift or generally in any of the next five years. Delaying a claim can be possible, but the best timing depends on tax payable, the applicable rates and the expiry of older gifts.
The annual limit is based on net income
The ordinary limit is 75% of net income, not 75% of tax payable. These are separate constraints: fitting within the income limit does not guarantee enough tax to use the resulting non-refundable credit. Special rules apply to some property gifts and gifts around death.
Example: a claim that exceeds the ordinary limit
Assume a person has $10,000 net income and an eligible $10,000 ordinary cash gift for 2025. The ordinary claim ceiling is $7,500 ($10,000 × 75%). At least $2,500 lies outside that year's ceiling. The person may also choose to claim less after considering tax payable.
A 2025 ordinary gift can generally be considered through the 2030 return. That does not establish the rates that will apply in 2030. Beaver Ledger currently calculates 2025 donation claims only and does not forecast future-year savings.
Sources: CRA — How to claim donations (2025)
Combining claims needs records
CRA allows eligible gifts made by you or your spouse or common-law partner to be included in a claim, subject to the rules. The same amount cannot be claimed on both returns. Keep a record for each receipt showing its original eligible amount, who claimed each portion, and what remains.
Older unused donations generally have to be claimed before donations from the current year. Ordinary five-year carryforward should not be confused with the separate ten-year rule for qualifying ecological gifts.
Sources: CRA — Gifts and Income Tax 2025; CRA — How to claim donations (2025)
A useful annual review
Do not postpone a claim solely because someone says larger claims always receive a better rate. Jurisdictions differ, credits are non-refundable, and waiting can allow a receipt to expire.
- List unclaimed gifts by year, oldest first.
- Check each person's federal and provincial tax payable.
- Compare only years whose applicable rules you have confirmed.
- Keep the claim history with the receipts and return.