CRA confirms that an individual can claim unclaimed donations made by her spouse before marriage (going 5 years’ back), including maybe for statute-barred years

CRA confirmed that an individual could claim (in years in which she was married, within the 5-year carryforward period from the year of the donation) the portions of a charitable donation that her husband had made before they had married, but which he had not claimed (perhaps, because of his limited income).

Regarding whether she could open up statute-barred taxation years to make such claims, CRA noted that s. 152(4.2) accorded it the discretionary authority to make a reassessment beyond the normal reassessment period in respect of a taxation year, when requested by an individual in order to determine a refund - and that “[g]enerally, an individual can make a written request in respect of a tax year, within [the stipulated] 10-year time limit, if the individual was not aware of, or missed claiming a deduction or a credit that was available for that year.” It did not make any explicit comment that, deciding after the expiry of the carryforward period to have the spouse claim the unclaimed remnant, amounted to impermissible retroactive tax planning.

Neal Armstrong. Summaries of 5 September 2024 External T.I. 2024-1022711E5 under s. 118.1(1) – total charitable gifts - (c)(i)(A) and s. 152(4.2).