Donation calculator
Donation tax credit calculator for 2025 and 2026
Estimate the federal and provincial or territorial non-refundable tax credits for an eligible charitable donation.
Charitable donation tax credit
Estimate your donation credit
Have your eligible donation amount and estimated income ready. This calculates the credit before checking how much tax you owe. Quebec is not supported.
Potential non-refundable credit
$159.58You give the full $500.00. The credit can lower the income tax you owe, but not below zero.
- Federal 73%
- Provincial or territorial 27%
- Eligible amount included this year
- $500.00
- Federal credit
- $116.00
- Provincial or territorial credit
- $43.58
Actual savings depend on your federal and provincial tax payable. Ontario surtax effects, alternative minimum tax, special gifts and carryforward optimization are excluded here.
Before you rely on it
What to know
The assumptions and limits behind this estimate.
01
What this estimate includes
The first-$200 and higher donation rates for federal tax and your province or territory, the federal rate for high incomes, and the usual limit of 75% of net income.
How it works
The gift and the claim
The full gift goes to the charity. Any tax-credit claim is a separate step.
01
The full gift reaches the charity.
Your eligible donation goes through the charity’s own channel.
02
A receipt supports a separate claim.
A possible non-refundable credit reduces tax owing. It does not automatically create a refund.
The method
How it's calculated
The steps the calculator follows, in order.
01
Apply the claim limit
Eligible gifts claimed in a year are usually limited to 75% of net income (line 23600). Anything above that can be carried forward.
02
Work out the federal credit
For 2025: 14.5% on the first $200, 29% on the rest, and 33% on the part matched by taxable income above $253,414. For 2026: 14%, 29% and 33% above $258,482.
03
Work out the provincial or territorial credit
Each province and territory has its own rate for the first $200 and for the rest. British Columbia also has a higher rate for taxable income above $259,829.
04
Add the two
The total is the potential non-refundable credit. It can reduce income tax you owe, down to zero, but it is not paid out on its own.
Example
A worked example
The calculator's starting values, worked through so you can check the result above.
Take an Ontario resident in 2025 with $80,000 of net and taxable income who gives $500 to a registered charity.
Federal: 14.5% on the first $200 is $29, and 29% on the other $300 is $87, for $116. Ontario: 5.05% on the first $200 is $10.10, and 11.16% on the other $300 is $33.48, for $43.58. The potential credit is $159.58.
In Alberta the same gift has a potential credit of $299, because Alberta's rate is 60% on the first $200 and 21% on the rest.
Either way, the charity receives the full $500. The credit only reduces income tax you would otherwise owe, so it never makes a gift pay for itself.
The 75% limit matters at lower incomes. With $20,000 of net income, only $15,000 of a $20,000 gift can be claimed that year, and the rest can be carried forward. At that income there is also far less tax to reduce than the potential credit.
Questions
Common questions
Short answers to what people often ask about this estimate.
No. It is non-refundable: it reduces income tax you owe, but not below zero. If your employer withheld more tax than you owe, a credit can increase your refund, but only by reducing your tax.
No. It applies once a year to your total claim, not to each receipt or charity. You and your spouse or common-law partner can also claim each other's gifts, so in most provinces combining them puts more of the total above $200. Alberta works the other way, because its first-$200 rate is higher.
Gifts to registered charities and other qualified donees, backed by an official receipt. If you get something in return, such as a dinner ticket, only the amount above its value is eligible. Check a charity's registration on the CRA's list before relying on a receipt.
When the charity receives it, so give by December 31. A mailed cheque counts if it's postmarked by then. You don't have to claim it that year: a gift you don't claim can be claimed in any of the next five years, but only once.
Net income (line 23600) sets the 75% claim limit. Taxable income (line 26000) decides whether part of your claim gets the 33% federal rate. Taxable income is net income minus deductions such as losses carried forward or the capital gains deduction, so it can be the same or lower, never higher. Most people with no special deductions enter the same number twice.
The CRA has not published 2026 donation credit rates yet. The federal rate and income threshold use the 2026 figures, as does British Columbia's lowest rate. The other provincial and territorial credit rates carry over from 2025, which is how they usually behave, but they could change. Check the CRA's final rates before you file.
Quebec residents claim their provincial donation credit on a separate return with Revenu Québec, which the calculator doesn't model.
Methodology
Methods and sources for every calculator
Every calculator documents its method, its assumptions and the official sources behind its rules.