[rob love]

Yes, but you also have to claim the cheque given to you as income. In the end it will only give you a higher tax bracket with a very marginal return.

ie: you work for the charity, and they give you $1000. You give the $1000 back to the charity and get a tax receipt for a $1000 donation.

At tax time you must claim the $1000 as income and will pay approx 35% for income tax. (varies from province to province.....I believe Ontario workers simply give all their income directly to the Ontario government in order to fund failed hydro projects and for computer technicians to wipe out computer hard drives).

You then claim the $1000 tax deduction and get approx 35% return for the $1000 donation. You actually will get a few dollars more depending on the province, but at the end of the day the return is somewhat marginal.

Now if it was work for a political party, then you get some good rates of return, but not for a non-profit.

As well, does this end up forming an employee/employer relationship with the volunteer which will create certain liabilities and responsibilities, or is the volunteer treated like a contractor?