5 Year Increase in Tax Deductible Donations

Thursday, 27 January 2000

The latest Tax Office Statistics have confirmed a 5 year trend in increased in claims for donations to charities and other public funds. Claims of $581m were made in 1997-98, an increase of 7.4% on the previous year. About 3.2million taxpayers made claims, about a third of total individual taxpayers.

Previous research by Givewell- http://www.givewell.com.au/not_claimed.asp - based on 1997 data found that 2/3 of total individual donations were not claimed as a tax deduction and that around 5.2million Australians made donations to charity without making a claim for a deduction in their income tax return.

The table below has been updated following publication of the 1998 Tax Office Statistics.

The proportion of taxpayers claiming deductions has been around 1/3 of taxpayers lodging returns over the last few years. The number of individuals making claims for gifts as a tax deduction has remained steady over the last few years even though the amount claimed has increased. The average annual increase in claims over 5 years was 5.8%, which exceeds the rate of inflation.

This trend reflects an increase in total donations rather than a trend to claim a tax deduction or make a donation in a tax deductible form.

This 5 year trend is confirmation that a stronger culture of giving is developing amongst individual Australians.

Tax Office Staistics do not provide information on claims for donations by other taxpayers such as companies, trusts or sperannuation funds.