Tax receipts
Tax receipts, sent for you.
Every gift gets its official receipt, in your charity’s name, emailed to the donor. Nobody in your office types one, prints one or mails one.
The rules
What the CRA requires on an official donation receipt
For a gift of cash, the Canada Revenue Agency lists what every official receipt must show (canada.ca, quoted word for word):
- a statement that it is an official receipt for income tax purposes
- the name and address of the charity as on file with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)
- a unique serial number
- the registration number issued by the CRA
- the location where the receipt was issued (city, town, municipality)
- the date or year the gift was received
- the date the receipt was issued
- the full name, including middle initial, and address of the donor
- the amount of the gift
- the amount and description of any advantage received by the donor
- the eligible amount of the gift
- the signature of an individual authorized by the charity to acknowledge gifts
- the name and website address of the CRA
What we do
A receipt for every gift.
- Online, by bank debit or at a Quick Tap, each gift gets its own receipt, emailed to the donor as a PDF.
- It carries your charity’s registered name, address and registration number, and the signature of the person you authorize.
- Each receipt has its own number, in order, for your charity and the year.
- The donor’s name and mailing address, the gift, the date it was received and the eligible amount are all on it, in English and French.
- When a donor covers the fee, their receipt covers everything they paid, fee included.
- If a gift is fully refunded, its receipt is marked cancelled and its number is never reused.
- Every gift on your dashboard shows its receipt number.
Emailed receipts
Email is allowed. Here’s what it takes.
The CRA accepts computer-generated receipts that have all the required information, are clear and easy to read, and can’t be altered, with the data protected from unauthorized access (canada.ca). Mindful Give sends each receipt as a PDF and keeps a copy in private storage, so a donor can download any of their receipts, and a year-end summary, from their account at any time.
Questions
What charities ask
What does a donor need to give us for a receipt?
Their name, mailing address and email. Online, they enter them when they give. At a Quick Tap, they give their email on the screen and add their name and address from a link we email them.
Do monthly donors get a receipt every month?
Yes, one for each gift, as it happens. They can also download a year-end summary from their account.
Can a charity issue one receipt for the whole year instead?
The CRA allows it for cash gifts: a charity “may issue receipts periodically through the year or, for cash donations, issue one cumulative receipt for the year.” Mindful Give sends one for each gift, so donors always have them, plus the year-end summary in their account.
What if a donor loses a receipt?
They can download it again from their account, or ask us and we’ll send it again. It’s the same receipt, with the same number.
How long does a charity have to keep receipt copies?
The CRA says copies of official donation receipts must be kept for two years from the end of the calendar year the donations were received, and a charity’s other books and records for six years. Mindful Give keeps a copy of every receipt it issues for you.
Whose name is on the receipt?
Yours. The receipt is issued in your charity’s registered name, with your registration number. A short line at the bottom says Mindful Give prepared and sent it for you.