Prorogation and Donation Receipts (Updated Jan 23, 2025)

What does prorogation mean for the government’s proposed donation receipt extension?

UPDATE (January 23, 2025)

Both the CRA and Department of Finance have released further information about the donation receipt extension.

Updated CRA Information

CRA has released information focusing on the administrative side of the extension both for donors and for charities.

Charities do not have to issue donation receipts

For charities, the CRA notes that there is no requirement to issue an official donation receipt or issue a receipt within a certain timeframe. If a charity does issue receipts, it must follow the applicable receipting rules.

Charities are not required to issue donation receipts specific to the extension period.

Dating Donations

In person and electronic donations – the date of donation is the date the charity receives the gift.

Donations by mail – the date of the postmark is the date of the donation. If the donation is received January 10, 2025 but postmarked December 28, 2024, the date of donation is December 28, 2024.

For more on the regular rules for donation receipts, you can check our blog Receipting Year-End Donations.

The extension does not change T3010 reporting

NOTE: the extension does not change charities report tax-receipted revenue on 2024 and 2025 T3010 Returns. CRA provides the following example:

• Between January 1, 2025 and February 28, 2025 the charity issues $5,000 in receipts for donations received
• Between March 1, 2025 and December 31, 2025, the charity issues $60,000 in receipts for donations received

The charity reports $65,000 of tax-receipted revenue on Line 4500 of its 2025 T3010.

Individuals can choose

Individuals can choose to claim eligible gifts up to February 28, 2025 on their 2024 income tax return. If those gifts are not claimed on the 2024 income tax return, the amount can be claimed on the 2025 return or carried forward.

Updated Finance Information

The Department of Finance released information (proposed Income Tax Act amendments) focusing on the legislative side of the extension for both individual and corporate donors. The release explains that “the government will introduce legislation in Parliament … in due course.”

The draft legislation and notes explain that gifts made by individuals before March of 2025 are deemed to be made in the 2024 tax year (that ends after November 14, 2024 and before 2025) if:

• A credit for the gift would otherwise be deductible under s 118.1
• The taxpayer claims the amount of the gift
• The gift was in the form of cash, cheque, credit card, money order or electronic payment
• The gift was not made through payroll deduction or (if the person died after 2024) by will

UPDATE (January 7, 2025)

We received confirmation that the Department of Finance intends to honour the December 30, 2024 announcement to extend the deadline for making donations. Legislation to extend the deadline will be introduced at the first available opportunity. Further details are expected to be released soon, including about how the extension will be administered.

We’ll continue to keep you updated as information becomes available.

Proposed Donation Receipt Extension

On December 30 the Minister of Finance announced that the federal government intended to amend the Income Tax Act (ITA) to extend the deadline for making donations eligible for tax receipts in the 2024 tax year, until February 28, 2025. The legislation was supposed to be introduced when Parliament returned.

Now Parliament is prorogued. What does that mean for the proposed donation receipt extension?

Prorogation Implications

Prorogation means that the Parliamentary session is over, no new business is conducted, and any unfinished business in the House and the Senate die. Unfinished business generally refers to bills that have not received Royal Assent. These bills must be reintroduced in the next Parliamentary session. There are exceptions to this rule:

• Private Members’ bills and motions don’t have to be reintroduced.
• Government bills in the House of Commons may not have to be reintroduced if the House unanimously consents to a motion to reinstate the bill, or, if after notice and debate, such a motion is adopted.

Government bills in the Senate do not have the same procedural options as the House and must be reintroduced.

For donation receipts, the proposed legislative changes hadn’t even been tabled (formally proposed) in Parliament. The donation receipt changes were merely announced in a news release. That means unless something unusual happens, the amendments cannot be proposed or passed until the next Parliamentary session. Parliament is now prorogued until March 24, 2025.

CRA’s Role

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) does not pass legislation and cannot operate outside the scope of an existing legislative mandate. The CRA administers tax, benefits and other programs. The Charities Directorate oversees compliance, provides education, enforces rules, and offers services to the charitable sector.

Regular Receipting Rules Continue to Apply*

The ITA sets the rules for donation receipts and the regular rules continue to apply. Charities should therefore likely process receipts according to the regular rules *unless and until CRA or the Department of Finance issue clarifying instructions.

There are differing opinions on the issue – some suggest that mere intention to change the law changes the rules; others suggest that charities should continue receipting in the normal way with adjustments for an extension period to issue a separate receipt for January and February 2025.

CCCC at Work

We understand that this will likely create confusion within the charitable sector. We’ve asked whether there will be any more information forthcoming from either the CRA or the Department of Finance. If we hear anything additional or different, we’ll be sure to update this post.