The 2018 Fall Economic Statement announced three new initiatives to support Canadian journalism:
- allowing non-profit news organizations to receive charitable donations and issue official donation receipts,
- introducing a new refundable tax credit to support original news content creation and local news, and
- introducing a new temporary non-refundable tax credit to support subscriptions to Canadian digital news media.
Charitable donations for eligible news organizations
This measure will result in the introduction of a new category of qualified donation, for non-profit journalism organizations that produce a wide variety of news and information of interest to Canadians. As qualified donees, eligible non-profit journalism organizations would be able to issue official donation receipts, which allows donors to benefit from tax incentives for charitable giving (including the Charitable Donations Tax Credit for individuals and deductions for corporations). As qualified donees, these organizations would also be eligible to receive funding from registered charities.
A refundable tax credit to support news organizations
This measure will result in a new refundable tax credit for qualifying news organizations. This new measure will aim to support Canadian news organizations that produce a wide variety of news and information of interest to Canadians. The refundable credit will support labour costs associated with producing original news content and will generally be available to both non-profit and for-profit news organizations. An independent panel will be established from the news and journalism community to define eligibility for this tax credit, as well as provide advice on other measures. Once established, the effective date of the refundable tax credit will be set for January 1, 2019.
A non-refundable tax credit for subscriptions to Canadian digital news media
To support Canadian digital news media organizations in achieving a more financially sustainable business model, the government intends to introduce a new temporary, non-refundable 15 per cent tax credit for qualifying subscribers of eligible digital news media.
Further details on these new measures will be introduced in the 2019 Federal Budget.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.