Give and get your tax back

Lori Luke
Deputy Chair CFNZ
19 January 2022

Give before March 31st and get your tax back this year

Right now, many people will be working on their financial plans for the end of the fiscal year.

It is a great time of year to consider giving goals, as donations made now are eligible for a 33.3% tax credit up to the amount of tax you pay this year.

The IRD provides two ways to file for a tax credit when you make a one-time gift, or participate in regular giving through an A/P, with your local Community Foundation:

• Submit copies of your donation receipt electronically throughout the year to your myIR account and claim donation tax credits as part of your end of year income tax process.
• File tax credit claim form (IR526) for the relevant tax year from April of the following year.

Hint: If you have missed filing tax credit forms for donations made in past years, the IRD allows you to go back up to four years, for tax years 2018 through 2021.

Or, you can sign up with Supergenerous, since one of the main reasons people don't get around to claiming their tax credit for donations is the hassle of saving receipts and manually lodging them with the IRD. Supergenerous take all of the hard work out of the process for you; you just sign up with them to have them retrieve your donation receipts from the charitable organisations you have given to. You can even nominate to regift your tax credit, making your giving go further.

Supporting your region

Through our work around New Zealand, we get to interact with incredibly generous donors who are starting to build their own personal funds during their lifetimes. Many people get a huge amount of satisfaction by seeing the impact of their contributions at work in their local area.

You can support your region today in all sorts of ways, from:

• creating your own endowment fund (see how it works here)
• working with your local Community Foundation to find just the right cause(s) to support in your local area;
• supporting organisations working in the areas of greatest need;
• funding scholarships for students who are excelling academically;
• or honouring family members who have died by supporting causes that would have been meaningful to them.

Everyone has a cause that they are passionate about, and the 33.3% tax credit this year, provides a really nice incentive to act before 31st March.

It's a really smart way to make your giving go further through your local Community Foundation.

See more about tax credits for donations on the IRD website

Find your local Community Foundation