Tax Deductible Giving - Latest Figures
20 July 2006 at 1:07 pm
Donations claimed by Australian taxpayers have topped the billion dollar mark according to the latest figures by Queensland University of Technology’s Centre of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies (CPNS).
On average, individual Australians are claiming charitable donations worth $300.61 compared to some $40 less in previous years.
Each year CPNS analyses statistics on tax-deductible donations made by Australians in their individual income tax returns to Deductible Gift Recipients (DGRs).
The latest figures are based on the amount and type of tax-deductible donations made by Australian taxpayers to DGRs for the period 1 July 2003 to 30 June 2004 extracted from the Australian Taxation Office’s publication Taxation Statistics 2003-2004.1
The figures present money donated and claimed as a tax deduction by individual Australian taxpayers and does not include giving by corporate and trust taxpayers, “non-tax contributions” such as raffles, sponsorships, fundraising purchases (eg, sweets, tea towels, special events) or volunteering.
The Giving Australia Report estimated 2005 year total giving using a more liberal definition of gift at $11 Billion (excluding Tsunami)
The following is a summary of the significant findings of the QUT research:
The total amount donated and claimed as tax-deductible donations in 2003-04 was $1.16 Billion (compared to $988 million for the previous income year). This constitutes an increase of $176.4 million (or 17.85%) from the previous income year.
This is the first time deductible gifts have exceeded a billion dollars, being 5.1% of all personal taxpayer deductions.
In 2004, Australian taxpayers claimed $1,106 million in tax agent fees deductions. For the first time since records have been kept, gift deductions now exceed tax preparation deductions.
Using a base year of 1978-79, the actual total tax-deductible donations made by Australian taxpayers is far exceeding the inflation-adjusted total tax-deductible donation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
The average tax-deductible donation made and claimed by Australian taxpayers to DGRs in 2004 was $300.61 (compared to $259.95 the previous income year). This is the first time average gift deductions have exceeded $300. This average amount has doubled in the last decade.
In 2003-04, 3.9 million Australian taxpayers (or 35.29%) made and claimed tax-deductible donations. This percentage has increased over the past decade from 33%.
On average, those individual taxpayers who make tax-deductible donations to DGRs donate approximately 0.29% of their taxable income. Once again, this trend has been increasing over the last decade from 0.2%
In 2003-04, 2.02 million males made and claimed tax-deductible donations to DGRs of $695 million. This represents 60% of the total tax-deductible donations made and claimed in 2003-04. A total of 1.85 million females made and claimed tax-deductible donations to DGRs totalling $469.6 million in 2004.
The average tax-deductible donation made and claimed by Australian male taxpayers to DGRs in 2004 was $343.64 (compared to $253.62 for Australian female taxpayers).
In 2003-04, 35.49% of Australian male taxpayers made and claimed tax-deductible donations to DGRs (compared to 35.06% of Australian females). The national average was 35.29%. However, on average, female Australian taxpayers who donate to DGRs donate approximately 0.31% of their taxable income (compared to 0.28% for Australian males).
A total of 1.3 million taxpayers in New South Wales claimed tax-deductible donations to DGRs of $511 million. This amount represented almost 44% of the national total. The next largest donor state was Victoria whose taxpayers made and claimed tax-deductible donations to DGRs of $306 million, representing 26% of the national total. Queensland taxpayers claimed tax-deductible donations totalling $146 million. This represented 12.6% of the national total.
Together, these three states accounted for 83% of total tax-deductible donations made to DGRs in 2003-04.
