The scope of charitable giving can be much broader than simply giving a sum of money to the NAWL Charitable Trust for Research and Education. One opportunity to give is through donating property rather than cash. Such a gift is called a gift in kind and is for tax purposes normally valued at its fair market value at the time it is made, in order to determine the tax credit generated by your gift. You are deemed to have disposed of the property at the time of giving – meaning that you must recognize any capital gain or income that would apply had you sold the property for that price.
But changes in the last few years have made charitable giving of securities more attractive to philanthropically minded investors. In particular, the new tax rule reduces the amount of the capital gain resulting from the disposition of a gifted security from 75% to 37.5%.
This rule applies only to a direct gift of specific publicly traded securities. If you were to sell the security and then make a cash donation, the normal capital gains of 75% would have to be reported on the sale.
You can receive a total tax credit (federal and provincial combined) worth about 50% of the donation in most cases. As always, talk to a tax professional or your financial advisor to see if this strategy of giving to the NAWL Charitable Trust and receiving an attractive tax credit is right for you.
Geri Moss-Norbury (MA Legal Studies) is a member of NAWL and a Financial Consultant at Wood Gundy Private Client Investments in Ottawa. She can be reached at (613) 783-7870. Her views do not necessarily reflect those of CIBC World Markets Inc. This article is for information for investors only; specific advice should be obtained from your tax professional or financial advisor.
