Ageing population could contribute to decline in charity

Tuesday, 21 June 2016

Kiwis are feeling less generous when it comes to giving money to charity, new statistics show.

Inland Revenue data shows the number of people filing a tax return to claim a tax rebate on donations has fallen year-on-year over the past three tax years, from 383,144 in the year to March 2013 to 359,541 in the 2015 year.

Individual taxpayers can claim back 33 per cent of donations over $5. It is estimated that fewer than 60 per cent of donations are claimed.

Tax refund site MyTax analysed more than 300,000 tax returns and found the average total donations claimed had fallen to $761, from the previous year's $841.

READ MORE: Clawing back that school donation

'Although the average amount donated was highest with incomes in excess of $70,000, it was interesting to see there was only $38 difference between those in the $60,000 to $70,000 bracket and those earning less than $20,000 who each donated around $692,' chief executive Lester Binns said.

'What we can see from this is that your level of income is not necessarily a good indicator of how much you choose to donate.'

MyTax found that while the average donation made to schools dropped by about 10 per cent over the past year, it was religions that saw the largest decrease, falling 19 per cent to $398.

Binns said New Zealanders could claim back on a range of different types of donations in their tax return.

'Charitable donations include those made to registered charities and religious organisations but also state schools and kindergartens and a range of other IRD approved organisations.'

Joseph Bulbulia, of Victoria University and a member of the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study, said one of the reasons for a wider drop in donations was that people had less cash in their wallets.

'Many people donate spontaneously, when they are approached in the street by a collector. But people don't carry cash any more. It's hard to estimate how much it's affecting the hidden economy but estimates are that it's substantial.:

He said organised religion was another driver of charitable giving and as that declined in New Zealand, it could affect how much was donated.

'Also as people retire they tend to give less money to charity but tend to volunteer more. As the population ages we will probably see more volunteering and less donation.'

He said charities could help ot boost the amount they were given by putting more work into recognising donors.

A spokesman for the Salvation Army said it had not noticed any negative trend in donations.