7 reasons to file a tax return
There are many good reasons to keep up to date on your tax filing each year. You may file a tax return even if you don’t have any income. It could help you access certain refundable tax credits and other benefits.
Benefits & credits: factsheets from the CRA
The CRA has compiled benefits and credits factsheets for: These are available in English and French.
Canada workers benefit
The Canada workers benefit (CWB) is a refundable tax credit to help individuals and families who are working and earning a low income. The CWB has two parts: a basic amount and a disability supplement. You can claim the CWB when you file your income tax return. Learn more including eligibility requirements, how to apply and how much you can expect to receive by clicking on the Get It button below.
Investment knowledge quiz
Most people know a little about investing, but they need to know more to be able to manage their investments to meet their goals. Try this quiz by the FCAC to see if your knowledge is basic or more advanced.
Mapping the road toward increased accessibility to the child tax credit
Last year, the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) helped to lift nearly four million children out of poverty and provided economic relief to millions of struggling households. However, many first-time and lapsed filers from underserved and vulnerable populations missed out on these critical benefits. Locating and serving eligible low-income youth, formerly incarcerated individuals, people experiencing homelessness, immigrants, survivors of domestic violence, and isolated tribal populations has presented a challenging opportunity to free tax prep service providers across the country. This research highlights the key findings and recommendations to increase the accessibility to the CTC.
Community volunteer income tax program (CVITP)
Need help filing your taxes? You may be able to avail of the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program. The Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP) has existed since 1971 and is a longstanding partnership between the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), and community organizations and their volunteers. Tax clinic volunteers complete tax and benefit returns for eligible individuals to ensure they receive, or continue to receive, their entitled benefit payments. In Québec, volunteers prepare both the federal and provincial tax return. The CVITP service is offered free of charge to everyone who meets the eligibility criteria, and includes doing taxes for the current and previous years. For the 2022 tax season, community organizations are hosting free in-person and virtual tax clinics.
How income tax works
Filing your taxes might be one of the most important financial actions you’ll take each year. It can also feel confusing or stressful at times. Find out more about how income tax works, including tax deductions and tax credits using the Ontario Securities Commission's interactive chart to see what tax bracket you are in.
Insights from the Ontario Financial Empowerment Champions Project and the Financial Empowerment and Problem Solving Project: How financial empowerment services are helping Ontarians build financial health
In 2016, Prosper Canada partnered with the Ontario government and nine non-profit organizations through the Ontario Financial Empowerment Champions and Financial Empowerment and Problem Solving projects, to pilot delivery of community financial help services for low-income Ontarians. Third-party evaluations of both projects confirmed that the services provided addressed an unmet need, reduced client financial stress, and improved client financial outcomes. They also confirmed that almost all service users would recommend the services to others.
It’s time to get ready for taxes!
Intuit is committed to helping students across the country work towards a more prosperous financial future by equipping them with the education they need to feel confident about their taxes. Through the Intuit TurboTax Simulation, we are helping students overcome the fear of Tax Day. You do not need to be an expert to teach taxes, and we recommend teaching to grade levels 9-12.
Ethnography of vulnerable newcomers’ experiences with taxes and benefits
This report presents the findings of an ethnographic research project undertaken by researchers at the Accelerated Business Solutions Lab (ABSL) at the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). It is the second of a series of ethnographic reports on the experiences of vulnerable populations. The objective of this study is to develop the CRA’s understanding of newcomers’ experiences as they first encounter the Canadian tax and benefit system. These findings illuminate potential directions for improving tax and benefit information and services available for newcomers.
Learn about your taxes (free CRA online course)
A free online course to learn about personal income taxes in Canada, developed by the Canada Revenue Agency. Contents include: Additional resources for teachers and facilitators are available.
Who Doesn’t File a Tax Return? A Portrait of Non-Filers
The Canada Revenue Agency administers dozens of cash transfer programs that require an annual personal income tax return to establish eligibility. Approximately 10–12 percent of Canadians, however, do not file a return; as a result, they will not receive the benefits for which they are otherwise eligible. In this article, we provide the first estimates of the number and characteristics of non-filers. We also estimate that the value of cash benefits lost to working-age non-filers was $1.7 billion in 2015. Previous literature suggests either a rational choice model of tax compliance (in which the costs of filing are weighed against its benefits) or a more complex behavioural model. Our study has important consequences for policy-making in terms of the administrative design and fiscal costs of public cash benefits attached to tax filing, the measurement of household incomes, and poverty rates.
Encouraging tax filing at virtual clinics
In 2020, The Behavioural Insights Team partnered with United Way and Oak Park Neighbourhood Centre to develop and test an email intervention to increase participation in tax filing clinics. An "active choice" email (sample email) significantly increased response rate and attendance to virtual clinics.
Tax Credit Outreach Resources
The Get It Back Campaign helps eligible workers in the United States claim tax credits and use free tax filing assistance to maximize tax time. A project of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the Campaign partners with community organizations, businesses, government agencies, and financial institutions to conduct outreach nationally. For 30 years, these partnerships have connected lower and moderate-income workers to tax benefits like the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), the Child Tax Credit (CTC), and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA). Their website contain a variety of outreach materials that can be adapted for your organization, including:
Disability Tax Credit Tool
The Canadian Disability Tax Credit (DTC) can help reduce the taxes you or someone who supports you owe. It also offers a lot of other great benefits. To apply for the DTC, your healthcare provider will need to fill out the Disability Tax Credit Certificate (form T2201). This tool is designed to give them the information they need to fill out that form
Tax Prep Dispatch: Alternative Service Delivery Tips!
Tips and considerations for providing alternative tax filing service delivery.
Tax Prep Dispatch: The Drop-Off Process
Considerations and best practices for drop-off and virtual tax filing services.
Virtual VITA Toolkit: Program Strategies
Program strategies grounded in an understanding of your community can increase the likelihood of engagement and follow-through. The following resources are intended to support VITA programs with implementation strategies at key program stages, like outreach and intake, and offer examples of how other virtual VITA programs have addressed critical challenges.
**Virtual self-filing tax filing toolkit
This toolkit has been created to support the Virtual Self Filing tax filing model piloted in 2020 by community agencies in Ontario. In this model, individuals file their own tax return but receive support from community agency staff or volunteers to do so. This resource was made possible through funding from Intuit Financial Freedom Foundation and Intuit Canada. We are grateful to Woodgreen Community Services and EBO Financial Education Centre for their contributions to this resource. If you are interested in adopting the Virtual Self Filing tax filing model in your own agency using the TurboTax for Tax Clinics software, please contact Ana Fremont (Program Delivery & Integration Manager) at [email protected]
Virtual self-filing model
This section contains resources that describe the flow of the virtual self-file model (two options), and examples of scripts and documents that may be used to support the process. These may be customized for your own agency.
Guide to the virtual self-file model of tax filing
Virtual self-file overview (Journey map)
Sample script: Recruiting clients for the virtual self-file project (Used in 2020)
Email templates (Independent filing method)
Booking confirmation email sample (Two-step method)
Sample introduction scripts (Woodgreen)
Sample disclaimer statement
Sample client intake form (Woodgreen)
Document and income eligibility check
Sample document check form (Woodgreen)
Virtual review of tax return: Quick tips
Additional support resources
This section contains additional resources to support at tax time. Be sure to also review our Tax filing toolkit and Financial Coaching toolkit for other relevant resources.
Sample client profiles (Woodgreen)
Common tax deductions
Common sources of income and their tax slips
Notice of Assessment – how to read it
Questions and answers about filing your taxes
Questions and answers released by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) about filing your taxes, including information on:
Virtual self-assisted tax filing: Learnings from a program pilot
During 2020, alternative approaches to the traditional community tax clinic model have become even more valuable as COVID-19 lockdown measures prevented in-person program delivery. In response to the growing demand for alternative ways to deliver tax-filing support, Prosper Canada partnered with Intuit Canada and three community organizations in Ontario to pilot a virtual tax-filing model that empowers individuals to complete their tax return themselves. The pilot was supported by tax experts and volunteers who helped guide individuals through the TurboTax for Tax Clinics Canada software. The webinar speakers are: This webinar is ideally suited for frontline practitioners exploring alternate ways to deliver tax-filing support to vulnerable Canadians. Click 'Get it' below to access the video link, and scroll down to access handouts, slides, and video timestamps for this webinar.
Handouts, slides, and video time-stamps
Read the presentation slides for this webinar.
Download the handout for this webinar: Process map: Virtual Self-File model overview
Time-stamps for the video recording:
4:01 – Agenda and introductions
5:59 – Audience polls
10:27 – Project introduction (Speaker: Ana Fremont, Prosper Canada)
14:31 – Tour of TurboTax for Tax Clinics (Speaker: Guy Labelle, Intuit)
17:59 – Woodgreen project pilot (Speaker: Ansley Dawson, Woodgreen Community Services)
27:35 – EBO 2-step process (Speaker: Marc D’Orgeville, EBO)
39:26 – Woodgreen program modifications (Speaker: Ansley Dawson, Woodgreen)
46:03 – Q&A
Delivering virtual tax clinics: How to prepare and steps to consider
This tax season, community tax clinics across Canada will be preparing to support clients virtually rather than in person amidst physical distancing measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Adapting to a virtual tax clinic model means preparing for different ways of volunteer preparation, client outreach, and delivering one-on-one tax-filing help. Click 'Get it' below to access the video link, and scroll down to access handouts, slides, and video timestamps for this webinar.
In this one-hour webinar, speakers from the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP) administered by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will share key considerations for Canadian practitioners operating tax clinics in 2021, as well as how to access CVITP program training and support.
This webinar is designed to support practitioners delivering community tax clinics in Canada.
Handouts, slides, and time-stamps
Disability Alliance BC
Disability Alliance BC supports people in British Columbia with disabilities through direct services, community partnerships, advocacy, research and publications. Their website provides information on disability benefits including the Disability Tax Credit (DTC), CPP Disability, Registered Disability Savings Plans (RDSP) and more.
Indicators for Financial Empowerment: Learnings from the National Financial Empowerment Champions Project
This resource offers a set of common indicators that community organizations can use to measure the reach and impact of their financial empowerment (FE) programming. It is intended for any community organization that works to foster greater financial well-being for economically disadvantaged Canadians. This resource compiles the key performance indicators (KPIs) and presents them for use by community organizations beyond the National Financial Empowerment Champions (FECs) partners. The KPIs have been refined in response to partners’ feedback and in recognition of developments in the FE field, ensuring that the definitions reflect current and best practices in the field of financial empowerment/financial literacy in Canada and the USA.
