Tax clinics - great recruiting opportunity for students!

[myCAsite]

If you are a university student looking for a position, I strongly recommend volunteering at a tax clinic through your Provincial Institute. A lot of university students (especially second and third years) are hesitant to volunteer at these clinics because they have not yet taken tax. However, it is still possible to help out at these clinics without actually preparing returns. For example:

- a lot of returns are prepared manually, so, it is really helpful to have someone to double-check calculations. So, you can sit with a preparer and double-check their work

- when returns are prepared by hand, information slips must be submitted. So, you can help to organize and staple slips. Also, there is usually someone at the facility who checks all returns before they are given back to the taxpayer, so it helps to have someone who can shuttle back and forth with the return, so the preparer isn't running around by themselves.

- if you speak a second language, that can be extremely helpful. A lot of people who come to the tax clinics are new to Canada, and have difficulty communicating with the preparer. So, being able to translate would be incredibly valuable!

- Depending on the facility, taxpayers usually have to line-up before a preparer is available to help them. So, it helps to have someone to talk to them before their appointment, to verify that they have all the documents they need. Once a return is prepared, taxpayers often have questions about how to submit their return. Having additional volunteers around to answer questions can really speed up the process.

The CAs who help prepare the tax returns will be extremely gracious for your logistical help, because it allows them to focus on what they do best, which is prepare returns. This is a great way to build a network of contacts that you can leverage in the recruiting process, plus you are helping a great cause!

[myCAsite]

The links to tax clinic information for Alberta and Ontario are as follows. For the other provinces, you will have to contact the provincial Institute.

Alberta - http://www.albertacas.ca/ServicesforCAs/VolunteerOpportunites/TaxClinics/AvailableClinics.aspx
Ontario - http://www.icao.on.ca/CA/VolunteerOpportunities/FreeCATaxClinics/1007page1066.aspx

You can also volunteer through the CRA: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/volunteer/

[PDC]

I was told that the tax course was a prereq, but now that you mention it, it does make sense to just help out the other students with their taxwork. Do you think it's too late to join? I'm in second year and really don't know much about the fine ins and outs of tax, but would gladly give someone a hand and get some experience myself while I'm at it. I will speak with some of the accounting association council members and see if I can still give a hand.

Thanks for posting this!

[myCAsite]

There is still plenty of time to join because the filing deadline is not until April 30. Most tax clinics are held in the middle to late March.

Like I said, just contact them saying that, even though you haven't studied tax yet, you are still willing to help out in ways besides preparing returns. Any logistic and administrative help you can provide would be great appreciated, especially if you speak a second language.

[baberrahim]

Hey...

Are there any tax clinics that could possibly teach you how to prepare tax returns, individual or corporate or both, and what if you're still in school? If not tax clinics, are there any other places/institutions/offices that could teach you how to prepare tax returns? Lastly, what would be the cost of learning how to do so, if any?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Yours most sincerely,
Baber Rahim

[myCAsite]

In terms of preparing returns for the purposes of CA tax clinics (i.e. for persons with income below a certain threshold), the provincial Institute or CRA will usually hold a training session. During this training session, reps from the Institute will usually go through the process of preparing a return, with some examples. if you are an ICAO member, the 2009 documents can be accessed here: http://www.icao.on.ca/CA/VolunteerOpportunities/FreeCATaxClinics/1007page1066.aspx

Completing a personal return is pretty straightforward, although, it depends on the type of software you are using. So, there aren't really any courses out there dedicated to teaching the process. Completing a T2 return is a little more complicated, and I really wouldn't recommend doing so until taking corporate income tax in university.

When I was in university, both our personal and corporate tax courses involved assignments where you had to prepare tax returns that were fairly complex. So that helped a lot.

[woodhouse]

I was wondering if we can earn the tax hours through volunteering? if we are CA students needing tax hours?

[myCAsite]

I believe you can, but you might want to confirm that with your provincial Institute. In order to do so, you need a qualified practitioner in attendance so they can sign-off on those hours.

[victorpazos]

I believe you can, but you might want to confirm that with your provincial Institute. In order to do so, you need a qualified practitioner in attendance so they can sign-off on those hours.

In Ontario, you can only claim up to 20 hours if you are with a CA training office. If you are not employed at the moment, then you can't claim any hours.