Thousands of parents are not claiming back on their school donations

Stuff co.nz 29 January 2017
Family First Comment: A third of school donations can be claimed back but thousands of parents aren’t doing that.
Hundreds of thousands, potentially even millions of dollars worth of unclaimed tax rebates from school donations are going unclaimed each year.
Many parents are unaware they can claim a rebate from the Inland Revenue Department of up to one third of what they donated to the school their children attended.
And many schools don’t tell parents they can claim a rebate on school donations. Many parents still think they’re paying a fee, rather than a donation.
The number of parents claiming back money from their school donations has dropped, latest Inland Revenue figures showed between 2013 and 2015, 6000 fewer parents made a claim.
In 2015, parents claimed back $21.2 million.
Tax expert Michael Gousmett said a comparison of Inland Revenue and Ministry of Education data showed $46m worth of donations had not been claimed.
IRD said any donation returns that were unclaimed were passed on to fund Government services such as roads, schools and hospitals.
READ MORE: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/88761317/Thousands-of-parents-are-not-claiming-back-on-their-school-donations?cid=app-iPhone