A number of free income tax clinics are being held across Grey Bruce, before taxes are due next week.
Grey Bruce Poverty Task Force Coordinator Jill Umbach says despite the current strike by the Public Service Alliance of Canada and its effect on the federal government, taxes are still due May 1.
“We have free services available for people with low-income,” says Umbach. “There is a variety of ways, you can attend a clinic, make an appointment with the free income tax service, or in some cases, you can drop off and pick up, other cases you can do your filing over the phone, and some clinics are in person.”
Umbach says by filing taxes, people can access certain benefits including returns, as well as funding from the child tax benefit, which provides eligible families with tax-free monthly payments to help with the cost of raising children under the age of 18, as well as funding from the guaranteed income supplement, which also provides funding for low-income older age security pensioners.
“In most cases with people that we work with, that do have a low-income, they are not going to be paying back huge amounts to the government,” says Umbach.
She says the community tax clinics are a program of the federal government, and the task force supports the network of over 21 locations throughout the region which offer the program.
Some of these clinics can be found in Port Elgin, Kincardine, Owen Sound, and Meaford. Visit the federal government website here for more locations.