Overview of the program

The Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP), known in Quebec as the Income Tax Assistance – Volunteer Program (ITAVP), helps Canadians with a modest income and a simple tax situation by preparing their income tax and benefit returns free of charge.

The program is a collaboration between community organizations and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Community organizations host tax preparation clinics and arrange for volunteers to prepare tax returns for eligible individuals.

The program has been operating since 1971. Each year, participating organizations and affiliated volunteers support hundreds of thousands of people file their income tax returns, helping them get the benefits and credits designed to support them.

Objectives of the CVITP Grant

The CRA is running a three-year pilot project, where a grant will provide direct financial support to eligible organizations that participate in the program.

The goals of this grant are to:

• cover some of the administrative costs of hosting free tax clinics
• encourage growth in the number of participating organizations
• increase retention among participating organizations
• encourage participating organizations to expand the reach of their clinics (for example, by extending hours or days of operation or offering additional locations)

We expect the grant will expand access to free tax preparation services for individuals with modest income and a simple tax situation. This may include Indigenous peoples, newcomers and refugees, seniors, youth and students, people with disabilities, the homeless and housing insecure, and low to modest income individuals.

The grant will provide a $500 base amount of funding to successful applicants. Organizations will also receive $5 for every federal income tax return filed under their free tax clinic.

Two conditional funding amounts of $250 each are also available. If eligible, an organization could receive one or both conditional funding amounts in addition to the base funding of $500 and the $5 for each tax return filed.

Expected results

It is expected that the grant will:

• increase the number of organizations that participate in the program each year
• decrease the total number of organizations that do not return to the program after participating for two years or less
• increase the annual number of volunteers who are associated with grant recipient organizations
• increase the number of returns filed each year by grant recipient organizations

Eligibility

Organizations that have registered and are approved to participate in the program may be eligible for funding. Eligible organizations must host or administer free tax clinics and electronically file income tax returns for eligible individuals.

For more information on eligibility criteria and the types of eligible organizations, go to Who can apply.

Eligible activities

Funding eligibility is based on the activities performed by the participating organization. Eligible activities are the hosting of free income tax clinics and the electronic filing of federal income tax and benefits returns by volunteers who are affiliated with organizations that the CRA has approved to participate in the program.

Eligible expenses

The grant will provide a base amount of grant funding to all eligible organizations who filed more than 10 federal income tax and benefit returns. This funding can be used towards eligible expenses incurred for the purposes of running a free tax clinic.

Eligible expenses are direct expenses whichare reasonable and necessary for the eligible activities specified above. All expenses must have been incurred for the purpose of hosting and administering tax clinics and filing tax returns between June 1 and May 31 the following year. For example, paying for police record checks in January in preparation for the upcoming tax season would be an eligible expense.

For a list of eligible expenses an organization can put grant funds toward go to Expenses.

Community Volunteer Income Tax Program Organization Identification Number (COIN)

The COIN is a unique and permanent eight-digit identification number that is assigned to all organizations that are registered and approved to participate in the program. These organizations are assigned an identification number that they will keep for as long as they participate in the program. The CRA will inform each organization of their identification number in their program registration approval letter.

Starting in February 2021, organizations are responsible for sharing their identification number with affiliated volunteers and/or ensuring the number is entered into the appropriate field of the CRA-provided tax preparation software.

For information about the purpose of the COIN and how it works, go to Free tax clinic host’s identification number.

Stacking limit for funding

A stacking limit is the cumulative total of all government assistance as a percentage of total eligible expenses. Total government assistance (TGA) is the total federal, provincial and municipal assistance received by a single organization for the same program or service.

The stacking limit will apply to the full amount of the grant calculated. The disbursement of funds will not exceed 100% of TGA for the purpose of hosting and administering income tax clinics.

As a result, applicants must disclose all sources of government funding they received for hosting and administering free tax clinics.

Application process

To apply for funding, each year applicants must first register with the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (or the Income Tax Assistance – Volunteer Program in Quebec) and have CRA approval for participation. Once approved, applicants will receive a notification from the CRA that provides their organization identification number. They will need this number for the grant application.

Applicants must then:  

• complete the online grant application with all mandatory information
• consent to be considered for funding
• agree that all information submitted in the grant application is true to the best of their knowledge
• submit their application within the application period

For more information on when and where to apply for grant, go to How to apply.

Activity period and application period

Organizations can apply from May 1 to June 30 each year (see Table 1). They may apply for grant funding annually.

When reviewing grant applications, the CRA will consider electronically filed federal tax returns and total government assistance during the activity period.

Table 1: Eligible activity periods for the CVITP Grant by year

Grant year	Eligible activity period
2021	February 22, 2021 to May 31, 2021
2022	June 1, 2021, to May 31, 2022
2023	June 1, 2022, to May 31, 2023

Application review

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will use the information gathered in the organization’s program registration and grant application to assess their funding eligibility. The CRA will assess applications on a first come, first served basis and score each application against predetermined criteria to determine the appropriate funding amount for each eligible organization. Funding will be proportionately distributed across the country.

Organizations will be scored on the following criteria:

• the number of federal income tax returns electronically filed by volunteers affiliated with the organization
• funding conditional amounts
• other sources of total government assistance received for the tax clinics

The CRA reserves the right to apply its discretion to the assessment of CVITP Grant applications.

Funding distribution

Funding will be disbursed as a grant using the following funding formula:

Base and conditional amounts:^{Footnote i}

• base amount
• plus conditional amount 1
• plus conditional amount 2
• plus dollar amount per return filed^{Footnote ii}
• equals up to a maximum payout ceiling^{Footnote iii}

Return to footnote (i) referrer Base and conditional amounts

• Base amount of $500
• Conditional amount 1 of $250 (for organizations serving Indigenous populations)
• Conditional amount 2 of $250 (for organizations serving Northern zones)

Return to footnote (ii) referrer $5 per return filed by the organization.

Return to footnote (iii) referrer Maximum payout of $30,000, which can only be achieved once an organization has filed between 5,800 – 5,900 returns.

To ensure that funding is distributed equitably across the country, the CRA will allocate a portion of total funding to each province and territory. The CRA will distribute funding on a first come, first served basis within each province and territory, up to the maximum amount of funding allocated. After all funds have been allocated within each province and territory, any unused funding will be redistributed to remaining organizations on a first come, first served basis relative to the date that their application was received, regardless of which province or territory they operate in.

The CRA will review all applications for eligibility to receive grant funding. At the end of the grant application period after June 30, the CRA will assess each application on first come, first served basis, and will determine funding based on the information provided. Please note that, even if an organization meets all eligibility criteria, the submission of an application creates no obligation on the part of the CRA to provide funding. The CRA retains discretion to determine, based on other public policy and public interest considerations, whether an application that meets the criteria identified in the terms and conditions will receive funding. If an organization disagrees with the CRA’s funding determination, it has the right to seek judicial review. Total funding per organization will remain within a cap of $30,000 in order to stay within the funding allotment for the pilot. Funding amounts per organization will be determined based on the funding criteria as described in section 5.2 and the provided funding formula.

The CRA will contact each organization to advise of the funding decision. The CRA will also advise successful applicants of the funding amount, as applicable in the form of a funding agreement.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has the discretion to determine, based on public policy and public interest considerations, whether an application that meets the criteria identified in these terms and conditions will ultimately receive funding. Organizations that disagree with the CRA’s funding determination have the right to seek judicial review.

Disclosure of information

By submitting a funding application, the organization authorizes the CRA to share any information included with the application within the Government of Canada for the following purposes:

• to reach a decision
• to evaluate the results of the program
• to support transparency, accountability and citizen engagement

The CRA will publish the names of the organizations that receive funding and the amount they received on Canada.ca. The CRA may choose to publish summaries of the grant results. The CRA will ensure that all public disclosures respect the legal requirements for protecting personal information and third-party information. The CRA may use a grant recipient’s information as a case study to highlight the effects of the funding. Case studies will not include any sensitive, personal or confidential information. If a grant recipient’s information is used in a case study, the CRA will seek the grant recipient's permission to disclose non-personal information.

Program monitoring and reporting requirements

The CRA will use the organization identification number to monitor the number of federal income tax returns that each organization files electronically through its free tax clinics.

The CRA will compare the numbers reported in your organization’s grant application and compare it to our administrative data. The program expects some difference in the number of returns reported by organizations and those counted through the identification number. The CRA will question discrepancies only if the difference is significant.

For more information the use of the identification number, go to Free tax clinic host’s identification number.

Performance measures

To measure the success of the three-year pilot grant, the CRA will assess how well these targets were achieved:

• an annual 5% increase in the number of organizations that participate in the program
• an annual 10% decrease in the number of organizations that do not return to the program after two years or less participation
• an annual increase in the number of volunteers associated with grant recipient organizations
• an annual increase in the number of returns filed by grant recipient organizations

Eligible expenses

The Grant will reimburse eligible expenses through a base amount available to all organizations.

Eligible expenses are direct expenses which, in the CRA’s estimation, are reasonable and necessary for the eligible activities specified above. All eligible expenses must have been incurred for the purpose of hosting and administering tax clinics and filing tax returns between June 1 and May 31 the following year. For example, paying for police record checks in January in preparation for the upcoming tax season would be an eligible expense.

Eligible expenses an organization may incur and put the grant funds towards are as follows:

• Office stationary
• Office supplies
• Volunteer costs
• Costs related to Internet/telephone use for the clinics
• Rental costs associated with acquiring space specifically for CVITP clinics
• Human resources costs
• Clinic promotion
• COVID-19 related costs (personal protective equipment, sanitation supplies, Plexiglass dividers)

After the funding has been distributed, if any organization is found to:

• have charged a fee to file a client's return;
• violated the grant or program eligibility requirements; or
• made a false representation on their application;

they will be deemed ineligible for future funding and may be removed from participation in the program.