Tax season is a busy time of the year for working accountants everywhere, but also for volunteers who give their own time to prepare tax returns for Sault Ste. Marie’s low income earners
For years, the United Way of Sault Ste. Marie and Algoma District has offered a free tax return service for people in need, said Kaylee D’Angelo, essential services manager.
“It’s very common that taxes will be the number one reason somebody will become involved with us," she said.
Traditionally many of the clients who use the service are on some form of social assistance, like Ontario Works, or seniors on fixed incomes, but D'Angelo said that is starting to change.
“What we are seeing more of is the people who fit into the income eligibility criteria are, a lot of times, people who are just struggling to make ends meet,” said D’Angelo. “I would definitely say there is a great need in our community.”
There is a set of criteria people using the service must meet, but D’Angelo said the United Way tries not to turn anybody away.
“On paper it might look like they make more money, but their expenses are so great they can’t even afford to go to a book keeper or H&R block. They might be looking at $200 to have their taxes done and that might be something they can’t swing at that time,” she said.
The real work in the program is done by a group of about a dozen volunteers, who give their time every tax season to take on a workload of tax returns for people in need in the community.
Burnie Thorp is one of those volunteers. He began doing tax returns in the 2008-09 tax season for United Way clients, shortly after he retired from Algoma Steel working in accounting and HR.
“I just like fiddling with numbers,” said Thorp.
Five years ago, Thorp began keeping closer tabs on how many tax returns he has been doing. In those years alone he has done about 4,600 tax returns, proving the great need in the community.
“It’s not just me. There are a number of people who have been doing this for years and years,” he said.
Those volunteer tax preparers work as a team.
“We will bounce stuff off each other. If I can’t figure it out, I will call someone else or they will call me and ask how to handle it,” said Thorp. “Credit goes to all of the volunteers and the staff here [at the United Way] are just great.”
Thorp said for a single parent with a couple of children, not filing taxes could mean being cut off from thousands of dollars from the Canada Child Benefit alone.
“It’s necessary that they file their taxes so that continues, if they don’t file their taxes it gets cut off so it’s vital,” he said. “That’s what you’re counting on to pay the rent and buy the food. If that doesn’t come in, you’re in pretty tough shape.”
In theory, the returns filed by the volunteers should be very straightforward, but Thorp said that isn’t always the case.
”Every once in a while you get one where somebody throws you a curve and when you look at the situation, we can’t turn these people away and say sorry you’re going to have to go to a professional to get this done. We will struggle through it,” he said.
About half of the returns Thorp does every year are done during tax season running March to April, while the other half are done over the rest of the year.
“Sometime you’ll get some people come July, they will be sitting there wondering where their GST rebate is or their child benefit,” said Thorp. “Then they say, ‘uh oh. I forgot to file my tax return.’”
That is why the service is so vital, said D’Angelo, because people who rely on social assistance like Ontario Works or disability are required to have their taxes for the previous year completed before receiving any funds.
“They cannot apply for those things without having their taxes done from the year before,” she said. “If a client has been living on the street for a year or two, they probably don’t have their taxes up to date. To even get suitable housing they need to get them done and we would rush to get them completed for them.”
Another large group of people helped through the program are senior citizens.
“A large number of them are people who have lost a spouse,” said D’Angelo. “It is extremely common they had a spouse who handled all of the paperwork and then when that person passes away the other person has no idea how to get caught up or what needs to be done or submitted or what they are entitled to.”
A drop-off bin in the lobby of the United Way office at 258 Queen Street East is available for most people who use the program, but the organization also offers tax clinics at some residences for seniors, like at the Finnish Resthome.
“It can be a little easier for these people to attend,” said D’Angelo.
Through the tax return service, D’Angelo said it became clear a number of people who were not eligible for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) during COVID-19 applied for it.
“We get a lot of people, especially seniors, that had applied for CERB that were not eligible and that following year all of the things in their lives are based on their previous income — which was way too high — so they started to get hikes in their geared-to-income rent and losing their guaranteed income supplements,” said D’Angelo. “There were just a lot of debacles and our team of tax preparers were really fantastic and helped people to weave through it as best at they could.”