Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric
Yeah ... we get that stuff too. And I have to admit that I do feel sympathy. But I can't afford to give to everything; and I do know that some charities are more reliable and effective than others. And I also know that Canada spends billions in foreign aid, and that this aid comes from the Canadian taxpayer. Whenever there is a natural disaster ... Haiti comes to mind; we gave large there ... Canadians, whether they like it or not, step up with the bucks. When I donate, I try to do it locally: I donate to the Kingston Humane Society, clothes and toys for kids at Christmas, the Partners in Mission Food Bank, and the Sally Anne. I recieve official receipts for my donations and I can submit these with my income tax as a portion of the donations is tax deductible.
|
Yes donations are tax deductible in that you sign a form and the charity gets however much tax you would have paid on that amount. For many years we were very hard up and didn't give at all but recently our finances have improved and at Christmas instead of buying presents we have donated, in alternate years to charities at home and abroad. But I do agree with what you said in a previous post Eric that charities in developed countries are something that we shouldn't need now.
Another reason we did not give to charity was that when my dad died in 1994 he left most of his money to my stepmother, who was already comfortably off in her own right. The day he died she saw her solicitor, we think to alter her will, and when she died, all her money went to charity. My dad's solicitor told me that originally her will would have left my dad's money to myself and my siblings on her death and would have advised my dad differently had she known how much my stepmother disliked us. So I reckon we have done a fair bit of charity contributing involuntarily.