What if we told you there was a simple way to give up to 50% more to the charitable causes you care about and that it wouldn’t cost you a cent more? Most charitable Kiwis already have the opportunity to do this but are sadly missing out simply because they don’t know about it.
Most Kiwis are eligible to claim one-third of their total donations each year as a tax refund from the IRD, but incredibly, most of us don’t bother. If you’re one of those then you’re missing out on the chance to gift that refund back to the charities you support, increasing your donation at no cost to you.
But, even more incredibly, if you use those donation tax refunds wisely and gift them back to the charities you support each year, you could get the IRD to effectively match your donations by up to 50%. Heres how…
If you meet the basic criteria listed below and you donate to approved charitable organisations (The Gift Trust is one, as are most registered charities, but check with the IRD if you’re not sure), you can claim 33% of the total donations you make as a tax refund at the end of the year. But lets see what happens if you decide to donate that refund back to the charity you originally supported…and then did that year after year without giving any more of your own money.
By the time you’re done, the IRD has put in nearly 50 cents for every dollar you’ve donated. Thats a pretty incredible matched funding scheme!
You can submit your donation tax claims on the IRD website here.
You have to meet these criteria to claim a tax credit on your donations:
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Your donations should be made as an individual and not on behalf of a trust, partnership or company (although there are also tax refunds for company donations – read more here).
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Your donations should be made to an approved donee organisation (The Gift Trust is approved as are most registered charities)
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You must be a New Zealand tax resident at any time during the tax year.
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You can only claim on donations that added up to the same amount or less than your taxable income during the tax year.
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You must claim the tax credit within four years of your donation.
