Your securities and mutual funds will make a bigger difference to our work!
Donating securities or mutual funds, rather than cash, maybe your best way of giving. The Canada Revenue Agency does not apply capital gains tax on donations of publicly traded securities. Capital gains are the increase in the value of your securities over the price you paid at purchase.
When you sell your shares for cash, you are responsible for the tax due on the gain, even if you plan to donate the proceeds from the sale. If you pay the tax out of those proceeds, there’s less money left to donate. Your charity receives a smaller donation and you have a smaller donation to claim for your charitable tax credit at the end of the year.
Nonetheless, when you donate your securities directly to any of our societies, those capital gains aren’t subject to tax. This means your gift to the Pontifical Mission Societies is a larger gift, and you’ll benefit from a tax receipt for the full value of your eligible securities or mutual funds.
You can donate securities to: The Pontifical Mission Societies directly,
for more information please call toll-free +1 (800) 897-8865 Or via Canada Helps securities services online*
* When donating via Canada Helps, the value receipted will be the value at the end of the day, when the security arrives at Canada Helps account, not the fair market value on the day the securities are donated.
* If your security donation is submitted after December 15, there is no guarantee that your tax receipt will be issued for the current tax year.
For instance: If you purchased common shares in ABC Company for $1,000 and their current market value has grown to $5,000, you have an unrealized capital gain of $4,000.
If you sell the shares and donate the cash proceeds, you will be required to pay tax on the capital gain. This means a portion of the proceeds must be set aside to cover taxes, leaving you with less than the full amount available for donation. As a result, your charitable tax receipt will reflect the smaller donated amount.
However, if you donate the shares directly to a registered charity, you will not pay capital gains tax on the appreciation. This allows you to donate the full market value of $5,000, resulting in a larger gift to the charity and a higher-value tax receipt.
Illustrative example:
In this scenario, you are able to donate the full value of your securities—$5,000. Your estimated tax credit would be approximately $2,300, which is about $920 more than if you had sold the shares and donated the after-tax cash proceeds.
