Can a taxpayer who makes a gift of $400 to a qualified donee in the 2023 taxation year claim a portion of the gift (e.g., $200) in the 2023 taxation year and claim the balance in the 2024 taxation year? CRA responded:
Generally, subsection 118.1(1) of the Act defines an individual's “total charitable gifts” for a particular taxation year as the total of the eligible amount of the individual's gifts made by the individual, or the individual's spouse or common-law partner, in the particular year or any of the five preceding taxation years to qualified donees, such as a registered charity.
[U]nder subsection 118.1(2.1) of the Act, gifts will be considered to have been claimed in determining an individual's charitable donations tax credits in the order in which they were made (i.e., on a “first-in, first-out” basis).
Accordingly … the individual may include charitable gifts made in the five previous taxation years, to the extent such gifts were not included in computing the individual’s charitable donation tax credit of those prior years, and subject to the limits described in section 118.1 of the Act.