Tax Treatment of Charitable Contributions in a Personal Income Tax: Lessons from Theory and Canadian Experience

Authors

David G. Duff, Allard School of Law at the University of British ColumbiaFollow

Faculty Author Type

Current Faculty [David Duff]

Document Type

Working Paper

Publication Date

1-1-2013

Subjects

Charitable Donations; Charities; Deductions; Credits; Personal Income Tax

Abstract

A hundred years after tax concessions for charitable contributions were introduced as part of the personal income taxes that many countries enacted during the First World War, these countries continue to debate the appropriate level and structure of tax concessions for charitable gifts. This chapter considers the tax treatment of charitable contributions in a personal income tax, reviewing and evaluating alternative rationales for tax recognition of charitable gifts as well as the implications of these rationales for the form that tax recognition should take, and examining recent Canadian experience in light of these rationales.

Citation Details

David G Duff, "Tax Treatment of Charitable Contributions in a Personal Income Tax: Lessons from Theory and Canadian Experience" in Matthew Harding, Ann O’Connell & Miranda Stewart eds , Not-for-Profit Law: Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, [forthcoming in 2014]) 199.