The Canada Revenue Agency is looking for people interested in taking part in its Community Volunteer Income Tax Program. A CRA spokesperson says there is a particular need for program participants in Yarmouth.
Program volunteers complete tax returns for people with a modest income and simple tax situation.
In Nova Scotia last year, 590 volunteers served 33,350 people through the program, said Ann-Marie Jenkins, a spokesperson for the Canada Revenue Agency in St. John’s.
The CRA could use more income tax volunteers in Shelburne and Digby too, she said, but the need is more critical in Yarmouth, where there are only two program volunteers, she said.
“There’s a general need in communities right across the province, but in Yarmouth, where we only have the two, it’s really an urgent need,” Jenkins said.
The first question a lot of people tend to ask about the program is whether they need to be a tax expert to take part, and Jenkins saying they don’t.
If they have a basic understanding of income tax and are comfortable with computers, she said, they likely could be trained to be a program volunteer. People who would like to get involved can sign up online.
“You would register there on the site and then a co-ordinator from our program would get in touch with you and provide you with the details surrounding the training,” Jenkins said. “We do offer training, the software that’s required, and there’s also a dedicated 1-800 helpline.”
Having a good number of volunteers helps spread the workload and ensures that as many people as possible are getting assistance with their tax returns, she said.
“When we don’t have the volunteers, it places a burden on the current volunteers that we have, and those volunteers may have to turn people away and we don’t want that,” Jenkins said, “so the more volunteers we have, the more people we can help in the community.”
People can register as program volunteers at any time during the year, but in order to be ready for this tax season, CRA would like to have them sign up before the end of February.
“That way they can get the training and they’re ready to go,” Jenkins said.
