TAX NEWS - JUNE 2010

Organ tax credit: Would it motivate you to be an organ donor? - Canada Tax

Organ donation rates could be higher if tax credits were offered to the family members of  deceased donors, a philosopher and ethicist proposes.

More than 4,000 Canadians are waiting for organ transplants, and studies suggest half of usable organs go to waste because families refuse consent or can't be reached in time, said Jurgen De Wispelaere, a visiting fellow with the University of Montreal's Centre for Ethics Research.

He proposes encouraging people to make advance arrangements to donate their organs, and giving a government tax credit to the next of kin after a donor's death.

The credit would be a token of appreciation for contributing to society, and no organs would be sold, De Wispelaere stressed.