Donations and charity gifts.
Being generous during the year can also reduce the tax you pay — but only if the charity is set up the right way and you have a receipt. Here's how gifts and donations really work at tax time in Australia.
What makes a donation deductible
For a gift to be tax deductible, it generally needs to meet all of the following:
- It's given to an organisation with Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status
- It's a genuine gift — you don't receive anything material in return
- It's $2 or more, in money or certain qualifying property
- You have a receipt or workplace giving record to support it
What isn't a tax deduction
- Raffle or fundraising ticket purchases (you got something back)
- The cost of items bought at a charity auction
- School building funds paid as part of enrolment fees
- Crowdfunding contributions to individuals
- Donations to organisations that aren't endorsed DGRs
You can check whether an organisation is a DGR on the ATO's ABN Lookup. If it's not, your gift is generous — but not deductible.
Workplace giving
If you donate to a DGR directly from your pay through your employer's workplace giving program, the deduction is already tracked and shown on your income statement. Night Tax pulls this through automatically.
Recurring donations
If you have small monthly donations set up, they add up — and they're often the ones people forget. Night Tax AI specifically prompts you about regular giving so you don't leave those deductions behind.
Priya donates $25 a month to a registered animal welfare charity. That's $300 across the year, worth about $99 in tax at her 33c marginal rate — money she'd have missed without a prompt.
How Night Tax handles donations
The AI walks you through the year's giving with simple yes/no questions, checks DGR status behind the scenes, and lets you upload receipts in one place. Your registered tax agent then reviews the claim before lodgement.
Let AI find deductions you didn't even know existed
Start your Night Tax return tonight — quick, accurate and reviewed by a registered tax agent before lodgement.
Night Tax always applies ATO rules on substantiation and compliance. AI suggestions are reviewed by a registered tax agent before lodgement.