MAXIMUM CONTRIBUTIONS
	To Provincial Party	To Constituency Association	To Candidate
Annually	$9,300	$1,240 each $6,200 total	Nil
Extra During a Campaign Period	$9,300	Nil	$1,240 each $6,200 total

Limit as to Form

Only contributions up to $25 may be accepted in cash. It is required that the name and address of the contributor be obtained and relayed to the CFO.

Contributions over $25 must be made by a cheque drawn on a bank account in the contributor's name, by a money order signed by the contributor, or by a charge on a credit card embossed with the contributor's name.

It is important to note that contributors cannot make a contribution of funds which do not belong to them. For example, if a corporation offers donations that are company money, but are being passed through individuals to get around the contribution limits placed on the corporation, you cannot accept it.

Anonymous contributions, other than amounts less than $10 collected by "passing the hat" at a meeting cannot be accepted. If you receive a contribution from an unknown source, it must be turned over to the CFO who will remit it to the Chief Electoral Officer.

In addition to contributions in the form of cash, credit card, cheque, or money order, a contributor may donate goods and services. The requirements for this form of contribution are outlined in the CFO Section on page 10.
 
Time of Campaign Contributions

As a fund-raiser for the candidate's campaign you must be aware that it is illegal to accept contributions for the campaign prior to the candidate's registration with the Chief Electoral Officer. The candidate's CFO should be able to tell you of the effective date of the candidate's registration with the Chief Electoral Officer.

Your activity as a fund-raiser for the candidate's campaign does not necessarily end the day of the election but may continue after polling day for another three months. This extended period will be helpful in the raising of any additional funds that may be required to ensure all of the candidate's campaign expenses are paid.

Corporate Contributions

Caution should be taken to avoid over-contributions by associated corporations. "Associated corporations" as legally defined, will be classed as one contributor in calculating limits unless each is carrying on an "active" business. Every active business will be treated as an individual contributor. This is not always easy to ascertain, but generally if a number of corporate donations come in together, if they are signed by the same officers, have the same address or have a similar name, you should enquire whether the businesses are associated and active. A call to the contributor should enable you to find out any information you need.

Watch also for corporate contributions where the cheque bears the name of two corporations because this joint venture of the corporations may be a partnership.

The extent to which each corporation shares in the contributions must be determined for tax credit receipt acknowledgement.

The corporate contributor should also be cautioned about the buying of fund-raising event tickets where part of the price is considered a contribution, when the corporation may have already contributed the maximum allowed.

Fund-Raising Activities

As a fund-raiser you will probably initiate or be involved in arranging a social activity for the purpose of raising funds for your candidate's campaign or for your association.

You should therefore be aware that part of the price of the ticket to an activity may have to be considered a contribution to the association or candidate by whom or on whose behalf the event is held.

All direct expenses related to the fund-raising activity, calculated on a per person basis, must be deducted from the amount charged for the event to arrive at the net contribution for which a tax credit receipt must be issued.

The party, candidate or association holding the event has the option of considering an additional portion of the ticket price up to a maximum of $25, not to be a contribution.

For example, if a ticket for a dance is sold by a constituency association for $40 per person up to $25 can be considered not to be a contribution, in addition to the deduction which must be made for expenses. If the per person expenses are $10, the net contribution must be between $5 and $30.

In addition you must ensure, where the contribution portion of the ticket price to the event is in excess of $25, that payment for the ticket is by way of a cheque drawn on a bank account in the ticket purchaser's name, a credit card embossed with the purchaser's name, or a money order signed by the purchaser. All proceeds and particulars regarding the purchasers of tickets must be turned over to the CFO for deposit and recording purposes.

The expense of the event should, of course, be paid by the CFO by a cheque drawn on the campaign or association's bank account and all receipts are to be retained by the CFO for audit purposes.
Note: Expenses incurred running a fund-raising activity do not count toward the maximum campaign spending limits under the Act.

The Chief Electoral Officer has prepared detailed information on organizing fund-raising activities which you can find on page 17.

Disposition of Funds

A special note to the fund-raiser:  Every contribution you accept must be given immediately to your CFO. The CFO is required to deposit it in financial institution accounts your candidate or constituency association has registered with the Chief Electoral Officer and to issue receipts for all contributions accepted.

A contribution is not officially received (accepted) until the date the CFO deposits it in the registered account of the association or candidate.

Any delay in forwarding the contributions you have collected to the CFO for deposit can result in a contributor not being eligible for the political tax credit in the taxation year the donor has planned to receive it.
 
Tax Credit on Contributions

Both individuals and corporations can claim a tax benefit that will partially offset the costs of their contribution. The tax credit will reduce the amount of Ontario income tax individual contributors have to pay. This is quite separate from the credits allowed against your Federal income tax for contributions to Federal political parties.

In the case of a contribution by an individual, the tax credit is available only in the year the contribution was made. If the total of tax credits exceeds Ontario tax payable the amount is refundable.

The table below shows the tax credit available to individuals.  As you can see, tax credits permit people to make contributions at relatively small cost to themselves, and so should help you in your fund-raising.

 

INDIVIDUAL POLITICAL CONTRIBUTION TAX CREDIT
total contribution	credit calculation	maximum credit
Up to $372	75% of Contribution	$279
$372 to $1,240	$279 plus 50% of the amount over $372	$713
More than $1,240	$713 plus 33⅓% of the amount over $1,240   OR   $1,240, whichever is less	$1,240
Maximum credit allowed on contributions of $2,821 or more is:		$1,240