BC Children’s Hospital Donation Tax Receipt: Credit and Limits

A BC Children’s Hospital donation tax receipt is an official Canadian charitable receipt that lets you claim a non-refundable tax credit on both your federal return and your British Columbia provincial return.¹ On a typical gift, the combined credit returns roughly 40 to 47 cents on every dollar. What the receipt saves you, when it arrives, and what has to appear on it depend on how and when you gave.

When Your Receipt Arrives

One-time online donations are receipted by email shortly after the transaction goes through. Gifts made by mail, phone, or in person are processed manually and take longer, particularly during the year-end rush.¹

Monthly donors do not get twelve separate receipts. The foundation issues a single consolidated receipt covering the full year’s contributions in February of the following year, and that one document is what you enter on your return.¹ Lost a receipt? Contact the foundation’s donor services team for a replacement.

To count for a given tax year, your donation generally has to be completed by December 31. Credit card gifts count as of the date the charge is processed. The CRA has extended this deadline in unusual circumstances, so check its website in late December if you are cutting it close.

What a Valid Receipt Must Show

The CRA can reject a receipt during assessment if required information is missing. Every official donation receipt has to include:²

Your full name, including middle initial. Nicknames and first initials are not acceptable, and the name must match your tax return.
Your complete mailing address.
The charity’s CRA registration number.
A unique serial number.
The date and location the receipt was issued, plus the date the gift was received.
The eligible amount of the gift. If you received an advantage, both the total amount and the eligible amount must appear.

Non-cash gifts add one more requirement: the appraiser’s name and address must appear on the receipt when a professional appraisal was used to set fair market value.²

Confirm your legal name, middle initial, and mailing address when you donate. If they do not match your tax filing exactly, the credit can be denied later.

What the Credit Is Worth

You report total eligible donations on Schedule 9 of your T1 return, and the total flows to line 34900.³ The credit is non-refundable, so it reduces tax owing but cannot on its own generate a refund.

Federal Rates

The federal credit is tiered. The first $200 of total donations in a year is credited at the lowest personal rate, historically 15%. Amounts above $200 are credited at 29%, except that donors with taxable income in the top federal bracket receive a 33% credit on the portion of donations above $200 that corresponds to top-bracket income.⁴

British Columbia Rates

BC layers its own credit on top. For 2026:⁵

First $200: 5.06%
Amounts above $200 corresponding to taxable income over $265,545: 20.5%
Remaining amounts above $200: 16.8%

A Worked Example

On a $1,000 gift, a donor outside the top bracket receives about $262 federally ($200 at 15% plus $800 at 29%) and about $145 provincially ($200 at 5.06% plus $800 at 16.8%). Combined tax reduction: roughly $407. Top-bracket donors do better because of the 33% and 20.5% rates on amounts above $200.

Pooling With a Spouse

Either spouse or common-law partner can claim all of the couple’s combined donations on a single return.³ Pooling gets you past the $200 threshold faster, so more of the total is credited at 29% or 33% instead of 15%. When one partner has top-bracket income, claiming everything on that return usually maximizes the credit.

Annual Limit and Carryforward

You can claim eligible donations up to 75% of your net income in a year.³ For most donors that ceiling never comes into play. If it does, or if you simply want to spread the benefit, unclaimed amounts carry forward up to five years. In the year of death and the year before, the limit rises to 100% of net income. Cultural and ecological gifts are not subject to the 75% cap.

Keep receipts for at least six years after the end of the tax year you claimed them. The CRA can reassess during that period, and without the original receipt the credit can be reversed with interest.

When You Receive Something in Return

Attend a gala, take home a gift basket, or receive event tickets tied to your donation, and the value of what you received is subtracted from the donation before the receipt is calculated. The CRA calls this the “advantage.”⁶ Pay $500 for a fundraising dinner where the meal is valued at $100, and your receipt shows an eligible amount of $400.

There is a small-value exception. If the total advantage is no more than the lesser of $75 or 10% of the donation, the advantage is ignored and you receive a receipt for the full amount.⁷ Cash equivalents like gift cards or redeemable vouchers do not qualify for this exception and must always be subtracted.

If the advantage exceeds 80% of the donation’s fair market value, the CRA treats the transaction as a purchase rather than a gift and no receipt is issued at all.⁶ This is the rule that catches donors at auctions where the winning bid barely exceeds the item’s value.

Donating Securities Instead of Cash

Transferring publicly traded stocks, bonds, or mutual fund units directly to the foundation eliminates the capital gains tax on any built-up gain. You still receive a receipt for the full fair market value of the securities on the date they are received.⁸

The math matters. Say you hold shares worth $10,000 that you bought for $3,000. Selling first and donating the proceeds triggers capital gains tax on the $7,000 gain. Transferring the shares in kind skips that tax, and the receipt still shows $10,000.

BC Children’s Hospital Foundation processes these transfers through RBC Dominion Securities. You complete the securities transfer form on the foundation’s website, your broker delivers the shares to the foundation’s RBC account, and the receipt is issued once the securities arrive.⁸ Mutual fund transfers can take weeks to settle, so start early if you need the receipt before year-end.

Corporate Donors

Corporations receive a deduction against taxable income rather than a credit. The annual deduction is capped at 75% of taxable income, with a five-year carryforward for anything unused.

Donating publicly traded securities in kind eliminates the capital gains tax for corporations just as it does for individuals. On top of that, the non-taxable portion of the capital gain is added to the corporation’s capital dividend account, which lets the company pay tax-free capital dividends to shareholders. The combination of the deduction, no capital gains, and the capital dividend account credit is why in-kind securities gifts are a common corporate strategy.

US Donors and the Tax Treaty

American taxpayers generally cannot deduct contributions to foreign charities on their US return. Article XXI of the US-Canada tax treaty creates a limited exception: US residents with Canadian-source income may deduct donations to qualifying Canadian charities, subject to the same percentage-of-income limits that apply to domestic charitable deductions.⁹

You have to itemize on Schedule A to use the treaty benefit; taking the standard deduction cancels it. The deduction also cannot exceed your Canadian-source income for the year, so a US resident with no Canadian income cannot deduct a BC Children’s Hospital donation on their US return. If you are a dual citizen or earn income in both countries, a cross-border tax professional can confirm eligibility.

1
BC Children’s Hospital Foundation. FAQs
2
Canada Revenue Agency. What Information Must Be on an Official Donation Receipt From a Registered Charity
3
Canada Revenue Agency. Line 34900 – Donations and Gifts
4
Justice Laws Website. Income Tax Act RSC 1985 c 1 (5th Supp) – Section 118.1
5
Province of British Columbia. B.C. Basic Personal Income Tax Credits
6
Canada Revenue Agency. Gifts and Income Tax 2025 – Definitions
7
Canada Revenue Agency. Income Tax Folio S7-F1-C1, Split-Receipting and Deemed Fair Market Value
8
BC Children’s Hospital Foundation. Donation of Publicly Traded Securities
9
Internal Revenue Service. Exemption of Canadian Charities Under the United States-Canada Income Tax Treaty