Canada Revenue Agency aims to increase students’ tax literacy through on-campus tax clinics
Four accounting programs at Algonquin College will partner with the Canada Revenue Agency to host a free tax clinic on campus for the second year.
The programs running the event will be financial services – Canadian context, accounting and financial practice, BUAD Accounting, and business accounting.
With the tax filing deadline of April 20 approaching, students have a valuable opportunity to save time and money.
The clinics, running from March 18 to April 10, aim to help students file their taxes and save money by taking advantage of various rebates, while also enhancing awareness of useful CRA services.
Aka Onyegbule, a finance student, has filed his taxes online using Wealthsimple for the last few seasons.
“It’s not that effective,” he said. “And I don’t know how to do TurboTax or Intuit.”
According to Daria Eskerko, communications manager at the CRA’s public affairs branch, students have many tax savings options available to them
“Students are eligible for a number of benefits and credits, including the GST/HST credit, Canada Child Benefit, and Canada Carbon Rebate,” she said.
Onyegbule isn’t aware of the rebates he gets as a student and would be “potentially interested” in trying one of the clinics.
“I have to learn to do it myself eventually,” he said.
Last year’s clinic helped 149 students file their taxes, according to Yuk-Sim Wu, department chair of financial, accounting, and legal studies.
“Almost all of these students were first-timers. All newcomers who filled out the tax return form via our clinic received HST rebate checks, averaging around $496 each,” Wu said.
“We helped the students save a total of $63,984 with HST rebates. Additionally, all students received the Climate Action Incentive of $225, which helped them collectively save $29,025.”
Eskero urges students to attend a clinic either at school or to find one of the many available to the public through the CRA website.
“If you have a simple or modest tax income situation, you can find free tax relief near you. Students can go online to canada.ca and find a free tax clinic near them,” she said.
Eskerko said there are new reporting requirements relevant to students that clinic volunteers can help navigate.
“Students might have a side job or a side gig where they earn income via an app: Uber Eats, Instagram whatever it may be. Now income earned through side jobs has to be reported with the CRA,” she said.
Eskerko also strongly recommends creating a CRA MyAccount which allows students to access their tax information, speak with an agent and file their taxes online.
Speaking of the accounting students participating in the event, Wu said the clinics are meant to “enhance the students’ customer service and communication skills.”
“The 2024 clinics received considerable acclaim on LinkedIn, shining a positive light on the college,” she said.
The times and locations of the clinics can be found on the college’s website.
