For those of us who pay taxes in Canada, tax day is fast approaching on April 30. This is a good time to start thinking about what you can do this year to reduce next year's tax bill. Here are three tips to consider that can lower your taxes while providing life-saving services to some of the world’s poorest people:
- The Canadian government provides generous tax credits for donations to registered charities, including a “super credit” for first-time donors. Check out the Canadian government's official tax credit calculator to see the credit you’d receive for a given donation.
- If you can afford to do so, consider using some or all of your tax rebate to augment your regular giving. For example, if you live in Ontario and gave $500 last year, you will receive a $160 tax rebate this year. If you use all of that rebate to increase your giving this year, this means you can give $660 in 2015. That will result in a larger rebate next year ($224), which you can use to increase your giving even further in 2016.
- If you want to give to an effective charity that’s not registered in Canada, you can still get a tax rebate by donating via Charity Science.
Need ideas for ways to spend your tax refund? Check out The Life You Can Save's Impact Calculator and our list of 10 things to buy with your tax refund.
