The Student Association’s income tax clinic is the place to go for assistance with filing.
The Student Association (SA) annual tax clinic returns this year from March 14 to April 13.
The income tax clinic was initiated by Ronnie Cruz, current interim equity and advocacy manager, in 2019 as an annual free service to teach and assist students in doing their taxes. Cruz was the community service coordinator at the time.
“The purpose of it is to support the students in filing their income tax returns, helping students save a bit of money, but part of it too is educating them on how to file their income tax return,” Cruz says.
Students who require help with their taxes can register for an appointment via the SA website, where a link will be provided soon. The service is currently only available for current full-time students due to limited space availability.
“We’ve successfully had a lot of students give us a lot of gratitude after their first appointment because after that, they don’t come back the following year, even though they’re still a student. Because, they learn how to file their income tax return just by watching another student volunteer to do all that stuff.”
The income tax clinic is an extension of the Student Nutrition Access Program (SNAP). In its first year, the clinic helped 159 students. The numbers have since then risen. During the pandemic in 2022, when the clinic was held via zoom sessions, a total of 785 students were able to access this free service.
The clinic will follow a hybrid model this time around, to ensure accessibility to all and increase the number of students they can help.
“I had people who helped me in the past when I first came, I was struggling with taxes [and] didn’t know how it was [done]. So, I wanted to start this program as my way helping not only the international students but also domestic students and helping them file their income tax returns,” said Cruz, about the inception of the program.
The clinic gives students an opportunity to learn to do their taxes, either by availing the service or by volunteering to help.
Students who sign up to volunteer during the tax clinic are required to complete their registration with Canada Revenue Agency’s Community Volunteer Income Tax Program. Volunteers learn how to use the website used to file income tax returns. Cruz mentions this is a useful resource and skill for them for the future.
Most volunteers are those with previous accounting experience.
Additionally, the tax clinic has a partnership with the George Brown College Enactus club that helps provide volunteers. Most volunteers come from the club’s financial literacy program called Tenacity. Marvin Louie Faren is one of them.
Faren studies Business Administration with a specialization in accounting. He has volunteered in the 2021 and 2022 online tax clinics. He shared that one appointment lasts around 15 minutes and volunteers are required to commit to work a minimum of six hours per week.
“In my first year, when I started to file income tax for students, I didn’t know anything about taxation. Even though I didn’t have any experience, they told us that you don’t need prior knowledge, they were going to teach us,” Faren said.
Faren now works at a tax firm.
“Because of the tax clinic at George Brown, I learned a lot and it helps me to boost my confidence,” he shared.
Cruz says that most volunteers, like Faren, are grateful for the learning opportunities that the clinic provides. Additionally, students who avail these services have also had a positive response since the service started.
Students are encouraged to register for the tax clinic’s services this year.
For more details on eligibility and appointments, follow this link.
