30 November 1995 Ruling 9638213 - CHARITABLE DONATION BY ANONYMOUS DONOR

Please note that the following document, although believed to be correct at the time of issue, may not represent the current position of the CRA.
Prenez note que ce document, bien qu'exact au moment émis, peut ne pas représenter la position actuelle de l'ARC.

Please note that the following document, although believed to be correct at the time of issue, may not represent the current position of the Department.

Prenez note que ce document, bien qu'exact au moment émis, peut ne pas représenter la position actuelle du ministère.

Principal Issues:

Whether, where an individual makes a donation via an agent in order to preserve anonymity, an official receipt can be issued to the agent and the donor is entitled to a tax credit in respect of the donation.

Position:

If the identities of both the donor and the principal are disclosed to the Department, the official receipt can be issued in the name of the agent and the donor may be entitled to the tax credit.

Reasons:

Although paragraph 3501(1)(g) of the Regulations provides that the donor's name must appear on the official receipt, where all of the information regarding the agency relationship is disclosed to the Department, as in the case of a ruling request, the receipt can be issued in the name of the agent and the donor can claim the tax credit in respect of the donation.

XXXXXXXXXX 3-963821

Attention: XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX, 1996

Dear XXXXXXXXXX:

Re: XXXXXXXXXX
Advance Income Tax Ruling

This is in reply to your letter of XXXXXXXXXX, in which you requested an advance income tax ruling on behalf of the above-mentioned taxpayer with respect to the proposed transactions described below.

To the best of your knowledge and that of your client, none of the issues involved in this ruling is being considered by a Tax Services Office or a Taxation Center in connection with any tax return already filed and none of such issues is under objection.

FACTS

1.XXXXXXXXXX (the "Donor") is a resident of Canada and he resides at XXXXXXXXXX

2. XXXXXXXXXX are registered charities within the meaning of subsection 248(1) of the Income Tax Act (the "Act").

3.The agent, XXXXXXXXXX, is a public accounting firm.

PROPOSED TRANSACTIONS

4.The Donor will make donations to the above-mentioned donees for the XXXXXXXXXX taxation year.

5.Since the Donor does not wish to reveal his identity to the above-mentioned donees, he will appoint XXXXXXXXXX as his agent to make the donations on his behalf.

6.To this end, the Donor will transfer $XXXXXXXXXX to XXXXXXXXXX, with instructions that $XXXXXXXXXX be donated to the Crown Agent and that $XXXXXXXXXX be donated to each of the XXXXXXXXXX registered charities mentioned above.

7.Although paragraph 3501(1)(g) of the Income Tax Regulations (the "Regulations") provides that official donation receipts must show the name and address of the donor, since the Donor does not wish to disclose his identity to the charities to which he will make donations, the receipts will be issued in the name of XXXXXXXXXX.

8.In order to support his claims for the charitable donation tax credit, the Donor will provide evidence of the principal-agent relationship established between himself and XXXXXXXXXX for purposes of the donations. Such evidence will consist of the official donation receipts issued in the name of the agent, the letters from the Crown Agent and the charities confirming the amounts received, the bank statements showing the transfer of funds, as well as the cheque to XXXXXXXXXX and a letter from the agent stating that charitable donations were made by the agent on behalf of the Donor.

PURPOSE OF PROPOSED TRANSACTIONS

8.The Donor wishes to make donations to the above-mentioned donees without revealing his identity, in order to protect his privacy.

RULING

Provided that the preceding statements constitute a complete and accurate disclosure of all of the relevant facts, proposed transactions, and purpose of the proposed transactions, and the proposed transactions are completed as described above, our ruling is as follows:

Gifts made by XXXXXXXXXX as agent for the Donor to the above-mentioned Crown Agent and registered charities will entitle the Donor to a tax credit, calculated in the manner provided in subsection 118.1(3) of the Act, on the basis that the amount of the gift to the Crown Agent is included in calculating the Donor's "total Crown gifts" and that the amounts of the gifts to the respective registered charities are included in calculating the Donor's "total charitable gifts" pursuant to the definition of these terms in subsection 118.1(1) of the Act, provided that the Donor files the documents described in paragraph 8 above with the Minister.

This ruling is subject to the limitations and qualifications set out in Information Circular 70-6R2 dated September 28, 1990, and are binding on the Department provided the proposed transactions described in paragraphs 5 and 6 of this Ruling are completed by XXXXXXXXXX

Yours truly,

for Director
Business and Publications Division
Income Tax Rulings and
Interpretations Directorate
Policy and Legislation Branch