Overview
Below is a FAQ for our CRA Tax Summaries feature. Please review these commonly asked questions to try and find what you're looking for.
Linked Articles:
- How to Send End of Year CRA Tax Summaries
- Finding Gifts That Can/Cannot Be Receipted
Should I include a tax summary cover letter?
Kindful gives you the option to include a cover letter with your tax summary mailer. It’s not required, but we believe every touchpoint is an opportunity to explain (and sell) the impact of a donor’s contribution. This is also a chance to make an appeal for future donations.
Why do some receipts have a number instead of a rct_id?
This is an indication of Kindful’s previous CRA receipting features. The latest Kindful update for CRA compliance will only issue receipts that follow the “rct_id” schema. Previous versions used only numbers. If you were using the legacy CRA receipting features and now use the Tax Summaries Tool to issue tax summaries, the tax summary generated from the tool will indicate that it replaces the legacy number. This is done so you can be compliant with the CRA.
The number that is set on your receipts cannot be set or reset. You can have multiple “receipt stacks”, meaning multiple groups of receipts, as long as every number within the receipt stack is accounted for. Kindful ensures that the numbering order will be accounted for.
How do I enable CRA mode?
On Kindful's General Settings page
- Add your Tax ID/CRA # in the Tax ID Field.
- Enter a postal code and ensure your account’s Country is set to Canada.
- Upload a Transaction Signature Image. (Scroll to the Images section, and the last option you'll see is Transaction Receipt Signature.)
On Kindful's Transaction Settings page
- In the Receipts section, enable the “Include PDF…” option.
- Set the PDF Receipt Template to "Official Tax Receipt."
What's the best workflow sequence for issuing CRA tax summaries?
- Ensure transactions with non-tax deductible amounts greater than zero have a non-tax deductible description
- Ensure contacts have full mailing addresses
- Import data (transactions not recorded in Kindful that you want to receipt)
- Resolve duplicate contact records
- Resolve ineligible transactions for the applicable year
- Write year-end letter
- Generate via Tax Summaries Tool
- Download
- Mail the tax summaries
- In the Mailings section (in Communication), mark letters as “Confirmed sent” to log an activity on each contact record
How do I receipt transactions that were outside of Kindful?
Kindful can only issue receipts for transactions that it “knows about.” Use the manual entry dialog via the “Add New” button or visit Contacts & Activities > Import Data to import transactions that were not recorded in Kindful.
How will a long advantage description show up on the tax summary?
The tax summary table on the CRA tax summary will dynamically expand each row to account for longer descriptions. See an example below.
Does the Tax Summaries Tool issue CRA tax summaries for archived contacts?
No, Kindful does not issue tax summaries to archived contacts. Learn how to archive contacts here.
Which contacts will Kindful generate tax summaries for?
The sum of the contact’s gross transaction amounts minus the sum of their non-tax deductible amounts must be greater than 20% of the sum of their total transactions for the applicable calendar year.
- “Applicable calendar year” is the current year if this is December, or last year otherwise.
- The transaction must have occurred in the applicable calendar year
- The transaction must have a non-tax deductible description if the non-tax deductible amount is greater than zero
- Kindful generates tax summaries for contacts who have a mailing address and at least one eligible transaction for the applicable calendar year.
- The contact must not be archived since Kindful will not receipt archived contacts
- CRA mode must be enabled
How does the logic work for replacing a tax summary?
On the activities page, while viewing a transaction that was included on a CRA cumulative tax summary, selecting the "Email Receipt" or "Print Receipt" button displays a message: "A cumulative receipt (aka Tax Summary) was already issued which includes this transaction. A replacement cumulative receipt will be created."
- This voids the prior cumulative receipt
- This generates a new cumulative receipt, which has a new unique receipt ID and indicates that it replaces the prior cumulative receipt's ID
- The eligible transactions included in the previous tax summary for the applicable calendar year are included.
- If you click the OK button,
- If you click Cancel, this closes the dialog without taking action
- Use this workflow if you want to reissue a cumulative receipt for a contact, which is usually because you lost it or didn’t receive it the first time.
How do I void a tax summary?
- On the activities page, while viewing a transaction that was included on a CRA cumulative tax summary, selecting the "Void Receipt" button displays a message: "This transaction was receipted via a cumulative receipt (aka Tax Summary). Selecting "OK" will void the entire cumulative receipt. If you click the OK button, this voids the prior cumulative tax summary
- All applicable transactions will now show as unreceipted in Kindful. This means every transaction that was included on the cumulative receipt will have the receipt voided and Kindful will treat them as not receipted.
- If you click Cancel, this closes the dialog without taking action
Can a donor print their own tax summary receipt for the year?
To give Canadian organizations control over when CRA receipts are issued, Kindful does not give donors the option to self-issue receipts from the donor portal.
How do I know if an activity was receipted?
See how to find transactions that have a receipt here.
Can I edit the CRA Tax Summary template?
To ensure CRA compliance, the CRA Tax Summary template cannot be edited. However, you can include a cover letter to go along with your CRA tax summary mailers.
Can I use merge tags in the cover letter? Which ones can’t I use?
You can use any non-transaction related tags in the cover letter. To avoid errors, do not use:
- PURCHASE_INFO_FOR_RECEIPT
- PREV_YEAR_TRANSACTION_INFO
- LAST_TRANSACTION_INFO
- TRANSACTION_INFO_FOR_RECEIPT
- YTD_TRANSACTION_INFO
How can I prevent someone from receiving a tax summary from the Tax Summaries Tool?
Archive the contact, or mark their mailing address as non-deliverable
Are Non-Cash Gifts included on the tax summary?
Non-cash gifts must be receipted separately per CRA guidelines. Only transaction activity types will be included on the tax summary.
What are the options available for printing Tax Summaries?
When you generate the Tax Summaries, you will be able to download mailing envelopes, labels, the letter, and even export the recipients to a CSV.
For tax-deductible amounts on transactions, does Kindful consider the nominal threshold?
No, the tax-deductible amounts must be set by an admin user.
Can I email CRA tax summaries to donors?
Yes, you can use all features of the Tax Summary Tool, including emailing eligible tax summaries.
What does the CRA tax summary look like?
Example:
Does the CRA tax summary display tax-deductible and non-tax deductible amounts?
The CRA tax summary will display the non-tax deductible amount and non-tax deductible description on the tax summary as required by the CRA.
A donor sent a check in 2018 but the check was deposited in January 2019. I want to give the donor a 2018 tax credit. How can I include this transaction on the 2018 tax summary?
Use the "Override Tax Date" when entering or editing a single transaction. That way the transaction will be dated for the date of entry but included in the year set by the Override Tax Date.
What letter type should I set for my year-end letter?
You can choose any letter type (acknowledgment, custom, etc). Any letter type can be included with the tax summary as a cover letter.
Can I print tax summaries for just one donor?
Not at this time. If you need to reissue a tax summary for a donor who already received a tax summary via the Tax Summaries Tool, go to any of their transactions included on the tax summary and click print receipt to issue a new replacement receipt.
Can I include a cover letter with the year-end receipts?
Yes. When your donors receive their tax summaries, it's best to include a cover letter to add a personal touch. Your cover letter is an opportunity to include a call-to-action, a year-in-review, or your vision for your organization in the coming year.
Create this cover letter using an email/letter template. Learn more about letter templates here.
Is there a mailer tag that will use the company/organization name in the letter?
When you want to display both the Organization name (donor) and the primary contact, you can update either the Formal Letter Name or Informal Letter Name field to display what you need. Update these fields for Organization Contacts, and you can generate a letter and use the corresponding tags.
What if donors have a lot of donations? Will it bleed onto the next page?
Yes, if a donor has approximately 15 donations or more for the year, the tax summary table will flow into a subsequent page.
Why am I not seeing the CRA mode filters?
Receipting filters are only available in CRA mode. Ensure your organization is in CRA mode.
Does Kindful store information for Canadian organizations on Canadian servers?
Yes, we store this data in Toronto.
Is there language support built into CRA tax receipting?
No. CRA tax receipts are English only.
How do I receipt transactions from the Classy integration?
Classy automatically receipts transactions and the feature cannot be turned off. To avoid receipting Classy transactions in Kindful a second time, manually receipt all other non-Classy transactions in Kindful throughout the year (by clicking the “Email Receipt” or “Print Receipt” button beneath each transaction), rather than utilizing the Kindful Tax Summary Tool.
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