Canada Official Donation Receipt Template

What an official donation receipt is for

A donor can only claim the charitable donation tax credit with an official receipt that meets the Income Tax Regulations. For the charity, receipting correctly is one of the conditions of keeping its registration: the CRA can suspend receipting privileges, impose penalties or revoke registration for receipts that are incomplete, inflated or issued for things that are not gifts. Section 3501 sets out exactly what every receipt must show, in a way that cannot readily be altered.

These templates include every required item in a clean layout. The cash gift receipt and the gift-in-kind receipt each show the charity's name, address and registration number as recorded with the CRA, a serial number, the place and date of issue, the donor's details, the gift date, the amount or fair market value, any advantage and the eligible amount, an authorized signature and the CRA's name and website. A replacement receipt format, a receipting guide that maps each requirement to the template and explains advantages, non-receiptable gifts, signatures and spoiled receipts, and a receipt register complete the set.

When to use it

Use it if you are a registered charity, registered Canadian amateur athletic association, registered journalism organization or other qualified donee that issues official donation receipts: for one-time and monthly gifts, annual cumulative receipts, fundraising event tickets, and donations of property such as equipment, artwork or securities.

Do not use it for gifts that cannot be receipted, such as donated services, unpaid pledges or payments for goods of equal value, and do not issue receipts if your organization is a non-profit that is not a qualified donee. Gifts of publicly listed securities, ecologically sensitive land and cultural property have additional rules.

What's inside

The full list of sections and fields in this template, in the order they appear.

1. Cash gift receipt

   • Official receipt statement
   • Name and address as recorded with the CRA
   • Registration number
   • Serial number
   • Place and date issued
   • Donor name and address
   • Date received
   • Amount
   • Advantage
   • Eligible amount
   • Signature
   • CRA name and website

2. Gift in kind receipt

   • Date received
   • Description of property
   • Fair market value
   • Appraiser
   • Advantage
   • Eligible amount

3. Replacement receipt

   • Original serial number
   • Cancellation statement

4. Receipting guide

   • Required items checklist
   • Eligible amount calculation
   • Small advantages
   • What cannot be receipted
   • Property gifts
   • Facsimile signatures
   • Spoiled receipts
   • Retention

5. Receipt register

   • Receipt number
   • Date
   • Donor
   • Type
   • Amount
   • Advantage
   • Eligible amount
   • Replacements

Preview pages

How to complete a receipt

1. Set up the header once. Enter your name, address and registration number exactly as recorded with the CRA.
2. Number receipts in sequence. Use a new serial number for every receipt, including replacements.
3. Record the place and date of issue. Enter the city or town and the date you issue the receipt.
4. Enter the donor's details. Use the first name and initial, last name and full address.
5. Record the gift. For cash, the date (or the year for cumulative receipts) and amount; for property, the date, a description and the fair market value.
6. Deduct any advantage. Describe the advantage, enter its value, and show the eligible amount.
7. Sign it. An authorized individual signs, or use a facsimile signature only if you meet the conditions.
8. Keep a duplicate. Record each receipt in the register and keep the duplicate.
9. Never alter a receipt. Cancel spoiled receipts and issue replacements that reference the original.

Example: a completed receipt excerpt

A fictional Halifax food bank, Harbourside Community Pantry, issues a receipt for a gala ticket:

Receipt number: 2026-0418. Issued: Halifax, Nova Scotia, on November 20, 2026. Donor: Jordan R. Clarke, 22 Morris Street, Halifax, NS. Gift received: November 14, 2026. Amount of gift: $250.00. Advantage: gala dinner, fair market value $90.00. Eligible amount of gift: $160.00. Signed by: the treasurer, authorized to acknowledge gifts.

The pantry records the receipt in its register and keeps the duplicate with the event's ticket and catering records.

Federal rules to know

These are the federal rules these receipts are built around.

• Contents of official receipts (Income Tax Regulations, section 3501(1) and (1.1)). Every required item, shown so it cannot readily be altered, for registered organizations and other qualified donees.
• Signatures (section 3501(2), (3) and (3.1)). Personal signatures, with facsimile signatures allowed only for imprinted, machine-numbered, securely kept forms.
• Replacements and spoiled receipts (section 3501(4) to (6)). Replacement receipts reference the original; spoiled receipts are marked cancelled and kept.
• Advantage and eligible amount (Income Tax Act, section 248(30) to (32)). The eligible amount is the gift's value minus any advantage.
• Retention (Income Tax Regulations, section 5800(1)(f)). Duplicates kept for two years after the end of the calendar year to which they relate.
• CRA guidance. Small-advantage threshold (lesser of $75 and 10%), the 80% advantage limit, and rules on services and directed gifts.

Mistakes that cost charities

The common mistakes are receipts missing the registration number, serial number or CRA website, receipting the full ticket price for a fundraising dinner, receipting donated services, issuing receipts in the name of someone other than the donor, inflating the value of gifts in kind without an appraisal, using a scanned signature without meeting the facsimile conditions, and correcting an issued receipt by hand instead of cancelling and replacing it. Using these templates, the guide and the register avoids each of them.