The tax deductible donations made to nonprofits in the 2007 – 2008 financial year coincided with the start of the financial meltdown. Yet more donations were made and claimed, and the total figure reached $2.35 billion. Rochelle Nolan reports.

The tax deductible donations made to nonprofits in the 2007 – 2008 financial year coincided with the start of the financial meltdown. Yet more donations were made and claimed, and the total figure reached $2.35 billion. Rochelle Nolan reports.

The Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies has released its annual analysis of the amount and extent of tax deductible donations made and claimed by Australians in their individual income tax returns.

Despite the 07/08 financial year coinciding with the start of the economic downturn, more tax deductible donations were claimed, surging by 24%. The total amount donated and claimed as tax deductible donations was $2.35 billion, up from $1.89 billion for the previous financial year.

Average donation trebles in the last decade

The average tax deductible donation made and claimed was $523.10, compared to $440.01 the previous financial year. This average amount has nearly trebled in the last decade.

There was an increase in the number of taxpayers making deductible gifts, up by 200,000 to 4.48 million people. However, there was a decrease in the percentage of taxpayers making deductible gifts, down by almost 1% to 35.47%.

Males give more dollars; but females give more as a percentage of their wage

34.4% of male taxpayers made and claimed tax deductible donations, compared to 36.55% of female taxpayers, but males were shown to donate slightly more than their female counterparts ($523.33 compared to $513.74). As a percentage of their wage, males gave 0.35% of their taxable income, compared to females who donated 0.54%.

Donations by location – NSW holds lead with new postcode dominating gift tally

NSW was the largest donor state (49.06% of the national total) followed by Victoria (less than 22%). Queensland and Western Australia followed.

This is the third time tax deductible gifts have been looked at by postcode. The postcode with the highest total of tax deductible gifts for 2007-08 was NSW 2088 (Mosman, Spit Junction) with $315,534,970 and an average per taxpayer of $41,737. This is a significant increase on last year’s figure ($57,710,280 for NSW 2027; Point Piper/Darling Point).

The postcode with the highest percentage of taxpayers claiming a gift deduction was VIC 3834 (Churchill), with 63.36% of taxpayers in this post code claiming a gift.

Company representatives debut as lead giving occupation

This was the second year occupations declared by taxpayers were matched with their tax deductible gifts. The highest average gift deductions were claimed by the category of company representative – industrial, medical etc; detailer – medical, at $5,864. This category also came in as highest deductible gift to taxable income ratio, giving 4.56% of their taxable income. The occupation with the highest total claimed gift deductions was company director; Executive; Manager, at $249,681,149.

For more information, view the report at http://www.bus.qut.edu.au/research/cpns/publications/documents/Complete-List-of-ACPNS-Working-Papers.pdf