Issue donation receipts your donors can actually use

CA-00REGISTERED-CHARITY GATE (hard gate, before anything else on the Canadian path).

CA-01Header statement (mandatory text): every official receipt must contain a statement that it is an official receipt for income tax purposes, and every element must be shown clearly in a manner that cannot readily be altered.

CA-02Charity identity block (mandatory fields): (a) the charity's name and address in Canada AS RECORDED WITH THE MINISTER (exactly as on the CRA List of charities, not a nickname or a campaign name); (b) the registration number (format-validated by CA-00); (d) the place or locality where the receipt was issued (CRA label "Place issued").

CA-03Serial number (mandatory, unique) — TWO STATES.

CA-04Dates (mandatory): for a CASH gift, the receipt shows either the date on which the gift was received OR the year during which it was received.

CA-05Date of donation and which year a gift belongs to: the date of donation is the date the charity ACTUALLY RECEIVES the gift; for a gift that arrives by mail, the CRA treats the POSTMARK date as the date of donation, and the charity should keep the stamped envelope.

CA-06Donor identity (mandatory fields, hard gate): the receipt must show the donor's name AND address; for an INDIVIDUAL, the first name and initial.

CA-07Amounts (mandatory fields): the receipt shows (h) the amount of the cash gift; (h.

CA-08Eligible amount and advantage (the core formula): the eligible amount is the amount by which the FMV of the property given (for cash, the cash amount) exceeds the amount of the advantage.

CA-09Nominal threshold (VERIFIED CURRENT 2026-09-25): an advantage whose total FMV is not more than the LESSER of 10% of the FMV of the gift and $75 is not regarded as an advantage; the charity does not have to subtract it, and the eligible amount is the full gift.

CA-10Intention-to-make-a-gift test (the 80% rule — hard gate): if the FMV of the advantage is MORE THAN 80% of the FMV of the gift, the CRA generally considers there is no intention to make a gift and the charity CANNOT issue a receipt — unless the donor can establish to the Minister's satisfaction that they intended to make a gift.

CA-11SIGNATURE.

CA-12Replacement, lost, corrected and spoiled receipts.

CA-13CRA name and website reference line (mandatory field, exact text): the receipt must show the name and Internet website of the Canada Revenue Agency.

CA-14Retention (the CHARITY's duty; drives the mandatory pre-download notice).

CA-16Input validation (hard gates; a receipt is a legal document so nothing is silently fixed): REJECT and explain when (1) a gift amount is missing, zero, negative or non-numeric; (2) an advantage amount is negative or non-numeric, or an advantage amount > 0 has no description; (3) the advantage exceeds the gift (caught by CA-10 first, since A > G implies 5A > 4G); (4) any required field is BLANK — every `required` / `required_when` field of the canonical schema, including clock.

CA-18Cumulative annual receipt arithmetic: the receipt lists every cash gift received from the same donor in the same calendar year (itemized table: date of donation, amount, advantage, eligible), shows the YEAR as the date received (CA-04), the TOTAL amount of gifts, the TOTAL advantage, and the TOTAL eligible amount.

CA-20Thank-you letter for a church that is NOT a registered charity (the only Canadian output available when the CA-00 attestation is unchecked).

US-00s.

US-01Contemporaneous written acknowledgment (CWA) threshold — measured on the NET CONTRIBUTION: a donor cannot deduct any SINGLE contribution of $250 or more without a CWA.

US-02CWA required content (printed on every statement): (1) the name of the organization; (2) the amount of each cash contribution and its date; (3) a description (but NOT the value) of any non-cash property (Phase 1: refer, US-10); (4) a statement that no goods or services were provided, IF that is the case; (5) if goods or services WERE provided, a description and good-faith estimate of their FMV; (6) if the only goods or services were intangible religious benefits, a statement to that effect (US-05); (7) if BOTH tangible goods and intangible religious benefits were provided, (5) for the goods AND (6) for the religious benefits.

US-03"No goods or services" statement (exact text): when the church provided nothing in return, the acknowledgment states, verbatim from the IRS sample: "No goods or services were provided in exchange for your contribution.

US-04Goods or services provided — description and good-faith estimate (GFE): the acknowledgment describes what the donor received and states the church's good-faith estimate of its FMV (any reasonable methodology applied in good faith; comparable goods where not sold commercially).

US-05Intangible religious benefits: where the only thing the donor received is an intangible religious benefit — one provided by an organization organized exclusively for religious purposes and generally not sold in a commercial transaction outside the donative context (admission to worship, sacraments, a de minimis tangible item such as communion wine) — the CWA need not describe or value it; it states that fact.

US-06Quid pro quo written disclosure (s.

US-07Per-gift date and amount rows (why the statement never shows only a total): (a) for the DONOR, no monetary gift of any size is deductible without a bank record or a written communication from the church showing the church's name, the DATE and the AMOUNT — for currency in the plate, the church's statement is the only record; (b) Pub 526 requires an annual acknowledgment covering several $250+ gifts to list "each contribution and the date of each contribution" and the total.

US-08Timing — "contemporaneous" is about when the donor OBTAINS the acknowledgment: on or before the EARLIER of (i) the date the donor files the return for the year of the gift, or (ii) the due date including extensions.

US-13Form of the acknowledgment, signature and church-side retention.

US-14Input validation (hard gates): REJECT and explain when (1) any gift amount is missing, zero, negative or non-numeric; (2) goods_status is missing for ANY gift; (3) goods_status is "provided" or "provided_plus_intangible_religious" and the description is blank, or the GFE is not strictly between $0 and the payment (FMV == P: a sale, no donative element; FMV == 0: choose "none"); (4) goods_status is "none" or "intangible_religious_only" with a non-zero GFE; (5) any required field is BLANK — the organization name, donor name, tax year, clock.

US-16Layout and delivery elements with NO statutory basis (declared so nobody mistakes them for law): the organization's address and EIN (letterhead; optional); the donor's name (REQUIRED so the acknowledgment identifies whose it is; the statute does not list it) and address (optional; delivery); the officer's name and title (optional; US-13); the donor instruction "keep this with your records; do not attach it to your return" (from Pub 1771); the "USD" label on every amount.

CA-15Donated services, gift cards from the issuer, anonymous or plate cash, admission and membership fees, sponsorship, lotteries, and gifts already receipted by another charity

A registered charity is not permitted to issue an official donation receipt for a gift of service.

When the donor is the ISSUER of the gift card, a receipt may only be issued if the conditions in CRA Guidance CG-007 are met. This tool cannot check them. (A gift card bought by someone else and donated is a non-cash gift — also outside this tool.)

A receipt can only be issued to the true donor, with their name and address. Loose or anonymous cash cannot be receipted.

This gift was collected by another registered charity that issued the official receipt. Do not issue a second receipt for the same gift.

CA-17Gifts in kind (non-cash property), securities and real property

Non-cash gifts need the fair market value at the time of the gift, a description, and appraiser details, and each needs its own receipt. This tool handles cash gifts only. See CRA: Determining fair market value of non-cash gifts.

Securities are a non-cash gift with their own valuation and capital-gains treatment. Ask your accountant.

CA-19Gifts that arrived in a currency other than Canadian dollars

Receipt the Canadian-dollar value your church actually received (the amount your bank credited), and note the original currency and amount in your records. Confirm the conversion approach with your accountant.

US-09Token or low-cost items (mugs, calendars) and the $75 membership exception

Low-cost or token items can be left off an acknowledgment only when ALL of the IRS conditions are met (a fundraising campaign, the donor told the deductible amount, and this year's inflation-adjusted dollar limits — which this tool has not verified). The compliant path here: re-enter this gift with 'Goods or services provided', describe the mug and give its {good_faith_estimate} value.

US-10Non-cash property (household goods, art, real estate)

For property, the acknowledgment must describe the item but must NOT state a value; the donor values it and may need Form 8283 (over $500) or a qualified appraisal (over $5,000). This tool handles cash gifts only.

US-11Vehicles, boats and airplanes with a claimed value over $500

Donated vehicles with a claimed value over $500 require Form 1098-C (Copy B to the donor within 30 days) and follow Pub 4302/4303, not Pub 1771. See your accountant.

US-12Securities, volunteer time and services, payroll deductions, and gift cards

Securities are non-cash property: describe, never value; Form 8283 rules apply. See your accountant.

The value of time or services is never deductible. Unreimbursed out-of-pocket expenses of $250 or more need a special acknowledgment describing the SERVICES the volunteer provided — a different document from a cash receipt. See Pub 526 and Pub 1771.