Changes to Canadian Charitable Donation Tax Credits for Charitable Gifts on Death

In the 2014 Budget, the Federal Government has proposed changes to the treatment of charitable gifts in wills or beneficiary designations. Essentially, if you include a gift to a charity in your will, under the new tax law, the gift will  be considered to have been made from your estate after your death, rather than immediately before your death. Your executor will then be permitted to allocate the tax credits among the year in which the executor pays or transfers the gift to the charity, an earlier taxation year for the estate, and the last two years of your life.

In many cases, the tax credits may be best applied to the terminal return to offset capital gains arising from the deemed disposition of property at death and other taxes, as may be done under the current rules, but in some cases the changes will provide welcome tax relief if there are significant tax liabilities for an estate after death.

The catch is that the funds or other property must be transferred to the charity within 36 months of death for the tax credits to be available in the last two years of the deceased's life.

The new rules will come into effect in 2016.

Here is the relevant excerpt from 2014 Federal Budget:

Estate Donations 

Donations made by an individual to a registered Canadian charity or other qualified donee are eligible for a Charitable Donations Tax Credit (CDTC). Subject to certain limits, a CDTC in respect of the eligible amount of the donation may be applied against the individual’s income tax otherwise payable. The eligible amount is generally the fair market value of the donated property at the time that the donation is made (subject to any reduction required under the income tax rules). The individual may claim a CDTC for the year in which the donation is made or for any of the five following years. 

Where an individual makes a donation by will, the donation is treated for income tax purposes as having been made by the individual immediately before the individual’s death. Similar provisions apply where an individual designates, under a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP), Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF), Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) or life insurance policy, a qualified donee as the recipient upon the individual’s death of the proceeds of the plan or policy. Under these circumstances, the CDTC available may be applied against only the individual’s income tax otherwise payable.

On the other hand, a CDTC available in respect of a donation made by an individual’s estate may be applied against only the estate’s income tax otherwise payable. 

Budget 2014 proposes to provide more flexibility in the tax treatment of charitable donations made in the context of a death that occurs after 2015. Donations made by will and designation donations will no longer be deemed to be made by an individual immediately before the individual’s death. Instead, these donations will be deemed to have been made by the estate, at the time at which the property that is the subject of the donation is transferred to a qualified donee. 

In addition, the trustee of the individual’s estate will have the flexibility to allocate the available donation among any of: the taxation year of the estate in which the donation is made; an earlier taxation year of the estate; or the last two taxation years of the individual. The current limits that apply in determining the total donations that are creditable in a year will continue to apply. A qualifying donation will be a donation effected by a transfer, within the first 36 months after the individual’s death, of property to a qualified donee. In the case of a transfer from an RRSP, RRIF, TFSA or insurer, the existing rules for determining eligible property for designation donations will apply. In any other case, the donated property will be required to have been acquired by the estate on and as a consequence of the death (or to have been substituted for such property). 

An estate will continue to be able to claim a CDTC in respect of other donations in the year in which the donation is made or in any of the five following years.  

This measure will apply to the 2016 and subsequent taxation years.