TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
Suppose a company is receiving donations from its employees/staff in lieu of COVID-19 and these proceeds are utilized to provide food and other groceries to staff members of housekeeping or security. So will receipt of donation from employees attract any GST?
GST on Donation
04 May 2020 
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Donations not supply: voluntary monetary donations without quid pro quo are not subject to GST; payments for food may be taxable.
Voluntary monetary donations without any quid pro quo do not fall within the definitions of goods or services and therefore are not taxable under GST; however, amounts that represent consideration for provision of food or groceries constitute a taxable supply. A "pure agent" defence may be available if receipts are exactly correlated with disbursements and surplus is returned. Charitable exemptions apply only to properly registered charitable entities and must be strictly construed. (AI Summary)
Voluntary monetary donations without any quid pro quo do not fall within the definitions of goods or services and therefore are not taxable under GST; however, amounts that represent consideration for provision of food or groceries constitute a taxable supply. A "pure agent" defence may be available if receipts are exactly correlated with disbursements and surplus is returned. Charitable exemptions apply only to properly registered charitable entities and must be strictly construed. (AI Summary)