By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

Low-income Townships residents who haven’t yet filed their taxes may be able to get help from their local Centre d’action bénévole (CAB; volunteer action centre). The CABs in Bedford, Cowansville, Coaticook, Magog, Stanstead and Waterloo offer free tax assistance in English or French through the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP). Single filers with an income of $35,000 or less and couples filing jointly with a combined income of $45,000 or less are eligible to have their taxes prepared and filed online for free by trained volunteers.

The clinics are not equipped to help self-employed people or those filing after a bankruptcy or on behalf of a deceased person. Most clinics do accept people who have fallen a few years behind on their tax returns, although the one in Magog can only accept returns from the current year. Some clinics, including the one in Bedford, will refer people whose income is slightly above the threshold to a local accountant with relatively low rates.

Sara Martinez is the service co-ordinator at the CAB Marguerite-Dubois in Cowansville. She said the centre has offered the program for many years, and processed 2280 tax returns last year.

“We start recruiting volunteers in October and start preparing in November,” she said. “The volunteers have access to a lot of training,” she said. “In past years, people dropped off their files, but now, because of the new privacy law, we prepare them while you wait, which avoids the risk of losing documents.” People who would like to have a volunteer file their taxes can drop by during the centre’s regular opening hours, from Monday to Thursday; those with mobility issues can contact their local CLSC or CLSC agent, if they have one, for an alternative way to drop off documents. 

Martinez said many of the people who use the tax clinic are social assistance recipients or recent immigrants filing their taxes for the first time, but anyone who meets the criteria is welcome. “People are super grateful for what the volunteers are doing; it shows that there’s an important need,” she said.

Marie-Josée Proteau is the director general of the Centre d’action bénévole de Bedford et environs (CABBE; Greater Bedford volunteer action centre), which offers the CVITP in Bedford and surrounding municipalities, including Clarenceville. She said the CABBE has offered the program for at least 25 years. “The program will always exist. The people who are our clients are low-income and they don’t have the means to pay an accountant…but it’s important for them to do their taxes even if their only [source of income] is their pension or social assistance,” explained Proteau, herself an accountant. “Otherwise, they won’t receive the tax credits they’re eligible for.”