Castlegar Community Services Society is offering free tax help for lower-income residents.
Every year, thousands of people in B.C. leave money on the table by not claiming the benefits for which they are eligible.
It’s estimated that more than one in 10 eligible people in Canada do not file their taxes and nearly one-quarter are young people aged 18-24. By filing, most people can get money back, or their taxes reduced.
For Canadians with a modest income, every dollar counts and these payments help with the costs of raising children, living with disabilities, or just keeping up with the bills.
Consider dropping by the Castlegar Community Services Society and have your tax return done for free.
To be eligible for this free service, you must either be a single person who makes less than $40,000 annually, or a two-person household that earns less than $55,000. For each additional dependent, add $5,000 to the above threshold.
In addition, investment income must be less than $1,000. The volunteer tax preparers are not allowed to do returns for deceased or self-employed persons or those that involve rental incomes, bankruptcies or complicated capital gains.
No income to report? File anyway, or you could miss out on credits and benefits.
If you’re eligible, bring in your T-slips and any other tax information, along with your ID, to Community Services Society at 1695 Columbia Ave., Monday to Thursday 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. where you can fill out and sign an information form.
Trained volunteer tax preparers will pick up your info and e-file the tax returns to Canada Revenue.
If you do not have your T-slips available, the volunteers are able to download them from the Canada Revenue website, but you must have signed your agreement on the information form for them to do this.
Please call the Castlegar Community Services Society office ahead of time to ensure it is open, sometimes there are minor disruptions in the week where they have to close for a couple hours at various times. The number is 250-365-2104 and press zero to speak to the front desk.
