Benjamin Franklin said the only two certainties in life are death and taxes, and at least the latter is cause for excitement for the volunteers of the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program.
The program is in its seventh year in the Boundary and is gearing up again this year beginning on March 6. The program, an initiative of the Canada Revenue Agency, operates on volunteers who do simple tax cases at local clinics for free.
Lorraine Dick started the program in the Boundary, and last summer was recognized with a Governor General’s medal for her volunteer service with the program, among other causes.
Dick said the program is flush with both volunteers and tax cases. As of July this year, the volunteers had handled 440 tax files, including a number of cases from years prior, helping people get up to date on their taxes. She has more volunteers than she can use, and the program handles more and more tax cases every year.
At a gathering of program volunteers last week, many said they were inspired to help when they saw the difference it could make.
”I had already been doing income tax and things for my father and other senior people, who were intimidated about doing it on the computer … people who didn’t have the money to go to someone who charged,” volunteer Karen Johnson said. “It was a bug in my bonnet, people who didn’t understand and couldn’t afford, having to pay [to get their taxes done].”
For many people, getting their taxes done can be a source of anxiety, but not having them done restricts their access to services. While the tax program volunteers can’t give financial advice, they can often point the way to services the clients are eligible for that they may not have known about.
“When people come in off the street to us we become the first point of contact to benefits they might not even know about but at least they are in the system, you have to be in the system,” Johnson said. “Here [at Service BC, where a tax clinic operates] we’ll say leave and go stand in line there, we go over things, go talk to the ladies next door.”
The process is relatively simple: there are tax clinic dates throughout March and April at the Gospel Chapel and at Service BC. People should show up with their paperwork, they can drop it off, and come back to collect their paperwork when their taxes have been filed online.
“We don’t just work with seniors, we have lots of young clients, people with disabilities, they are so daunted. Our seniors are familiar with it, our younger people, some have never filed taxes, we have young families, people who are visually impaired and there no accommodation for them,” volunteer Terry Mooney said. “It is just really cool and really rewarding.”
The program is restricted to simple tax cases; generally, they work with low-income taxes, and cannot handle bankruptcy, taxes for a deceased person or businesses.
“If you need tax advice, we are not the people for you,” Dick said.
The clinic currently operates in Grand Forks at two locations: Service BC and Gospel Chapel, as well as in Greenwood at Community Futures. Clients from across the Boundary are able to come to a clinic location, but Dick said she’d especially love volunteers from Rock Creek and Midway for next year.
The clinics run March 6 to April 27. More information is available at cra-arc.gc.ca and on the Community Volunteer Income Tax Facebook page, or by contacting Lorraine at 250-442-0962 or lorraine.dick@gmail.com.
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The Community Volunteer Income Tax Program is operating clinics at three locations in the Boundary throughout March and April.
Grand Forks
Service BC, Phoenix Room
174 Market Avenue
Wednesdays from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Gospel Chapel, Main Foyer
7048 Donaldson Drive
Fridays from noon to 2 p.m.
Greenwood
Community Futures
245 South Copper Street
Wednesdays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
If you have a modest income and a simple tax situation you may be eligible to participate. A single person with income up to $30,000, a couple with income up to $40,000, or an adult with dependent with income up to $35,000 (adding $2,500 for each additional dependent). All Boundary residents eligible to participate may attend a clinic, regardless of where they live.
Clinics run March 6 to April 27, 2018. More information can be found online at cra-arc.gc.ca, visiting the Community Volunteer Income Tax Facebook page, or by calling or emailing Lorraine Dick at 250-442-0962 or lorraine.dick@gmaillcom.