Volunteer Bureau offering help with tax returns

With a team of volunteers trained and ready to help, the Fort Frances Volunteer Bureau has opened its doors to assist low-income families, the disabled, and elderly file their income taxes.
Assistant co-ordinator Karen Haney said yesterday that while the Volunteer Bureau still is expecting to receive tax-filing software from the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, people can bring in all their tax information now and they’ll get it ready.
We’ll be keeping track of who brought theirs in first, so when we do send them off, they’ll be processed in that order, Haney noted, adding the volunteers will start processing the returns sometime next week.
She said a good number of volunteers are in place this year, including the 20 or so who attended an all-day training workshop here last Tuesday led by Lorna Engel, volunteer co-ordinator for the Thunder Bay Tax Services Office of the CCRA.
Those who want help with their taxes, but can’t afford to get them done at a tax firm, can just bring the applicable forms and information to the Volunteer Bureau’s office (located in the old CN station) on Monday through Friday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
While the deadline to file your taxes is April 30, the Volunteer Bureau will accept returns for some time after that date (some were processed in June last year).
The program is based on a net income of $28,000 or less, but the free service will be provided to those who exceed that amount in certain situations, Haney noted, such as new Canadians who still don’t know how filing income tax works.
Haney said the Volunteer Bureau also is interested in helping people help themselves so they don’t have to come back next year—or even could share their new skills with others in need of help.
The local Volunteer Bureau has been organizing this assistance for the past eight years. The program handled about 400 tax returns last year.
The Volunteer Bureau does not get paid by the CCRA to provide this service.
If you have any questions, or want to make an appointment to learn how to do your own taxes, call Haney or executive director Vanessa Hebert at 274-9555.