PELC Tax Clinic

Free income tax return filing available

Last year volunteers at the Prince Edward Learning Centre (PELC) helped file the income tax returns of over 400 County residents. The average refund was $2,600, meaning that over $1 million came back into the economy of the County. PELC first started income tax filing assistance in 2014 when Christine Chapman began helping out a few of the clients who were referenced by Ontario Works. The program has been expanded in subsequent years, and last year received financial support from the municipality as well as the United Way. PELC Executive Director Kathy Kennedy said that there was an existing tax clinic for people over age 60 through Community Care for Seniors, but no free clinics were available to people who were younger, something that turned out to be acutely necessary. “People were having dire consequences for not filing taxes. For example we were seeing sheriff’s lockouts because people weren’t accessing all the benefits they could have and couldn’t pay their rents, so they were being dehoused, basically because they weren’t filing taxes,” she said. A Notice of Assessment is often required in order to access certain benefits and services, and low-income residents can miss out if they don’t file an income tax return. PELC Administrative and Communications Assistant Tammy Harvey said that most of the clients using the tax filing service were on some form of assistance, such as Ontario Works or on EI benefits, but adds that even people with no income should be filing a return. “Even if you have no income to report, you would still qualify for some Trillium benefits, which come monthly, and for the GST rebate. Last year there was the carbon incentive rebate, so all those things are benefits to filing your taxes, particularly if you are on a lower income,” she said.

(L-R): PELC Administrative Assistant Tammy Harvey and Executive Director Kathy Kennedy are the organizers of the free income tax return filing clinic available to County residents.

Last year, eight volunteers plus a student on placement from Loyalist College helped residents to file their income tax returns. The volunteers are all trained through the Canada Revenue Agency, and receive additional training at PELC. They also require a Vulnerable Sector Reference check from the local OPP. The tax preparation can be in-person with the client, or via telephone and Zoom. Clients can also drop off their information at PELC. Assistance is provided if clients do not have paper copies of things like T4 slips. “We can do a joint call with them and we can access the information so they can get their taxes filed,” said Harvey. During the first few years the clinic was operating, there were a large number of clients who had not filed for multiple years. In some cases, they were afraid they would be owing a lot in unpaid income tax, others were overwhelmed by the prospect of going through the paperwork and filing, and there were some who simply could not afford to pay a private company to do their filing. “If you are living on a very limited income and you’re looking at needing your taxes filed and that’s going to be 50 or 60 dollars out of pocket, that can be a disadvantage to getting your taxes done,” said Kennedy. “So that’s where a program like this, where we are offering it for free, can really help people get their taxes done.” In addition to helping file tax returns, the volunteers also explore what benefits clients may be able to access if their life circumstances change, such as with illness or family medical issues. There have been a number of success stories. One client had not filed a return for 10 years, afraid that he would be in arrears. He ended up receiving $50,000 in refunds. Another client on social assistance received $7,300 plus an additional $2,700 in benefits they were eligible for.

PELC is seeking volunteers to assist with tax filing this year. Please email info@pelc.ca. Residents who are not self-employed and have an annual income less than $35,000 can obtain tax filing help starting on February 28, and can be added to the intake list by calling 613.476.1811. Seniors age 60 and over can obtain assistance from Community Care for Seniors by calling 613.476.7493.