Become a CVITP organization

Organizations participating in the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP) host free tax clinics to help eligible people file their taxes. Filing a tax return helps people get the benefit and credit payments they are entitled to. This increases an organization’s impact in the community and improves the quality of life of their clients.

If you are located in the province of Quebec, please visit the Income Tax Assistance – Volunteer Program to learn how your organization can participate.

On this page:

• About free tax clinics
• How free tax clinics help
• Eligibility criteria
• How the program works
• Organization’s responsibilities
• Register your organization
• Summary of steps when becoming a CVITP organization

About free tax clinics

The CVITP has existed since 1971 and is a longstanding partnership between the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and community organizations and their volunteers.

Participating organizations host free tax clinics where volunteers complete income tax and benefit returns for eligible individuals to ensure they receive, or continue to receive, the benefit and credit payments they are entitled to. As a result, your organization and its volunteers help improve the quality of life of those in your community who need it the most.

Organizations that host free tax clinics include non-profits, charities, municipalities, libraries, senior residences, and community associations, among others. Some examples include:

• seniors’ support and recreation centres
• shelters and support centres
• family services associations
• settlement organizations
• multicultural societies
• service clubs (i.e., the Lion’s Club, and the Royal Canadian Legion)
• band offices
• volunteer bureaus
• post-secondary student groups or associations
• places of worship

These organizations provide services to the community and usually have the infrastructure in place to support the CVITP.

Some organizations offer a full-service tax clinic—hosting clinics and managing volunteers and resources—while others simply provide the space. Organizations can decide what type and frequency of services they wish to offer, as well as choose to host in-person or virtual tax clinics.

How free tax clinics help

Each year, CVITP organizations and volunteers help hundreds of thousands of people file their tax returns.

Individuals need to do their taxes, every year, to qualify for various federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal programs and services. This can be a difficult and sometimes overwhelming task for many people in need.

CVITP tax preparation services are offered free of charge to everyone who meets the eligibility criteria and includes completing taxes for current and previous years.

The CVITP officers support and guide community organizations as they deliver the program.

Organizations and volunteers cannot charge for their services and must decline any offers of monetary reward. Anyone who charges a fee for their services will be removed from the program.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for help at a free tax clinic, individuals must have a modest income and a simple tax situation. This may include:

• adults aged 65 years and older
• individuals experiencing housing insecurity
• Indigenous Peoples
• individuals with a modest income
• newcomers
• persons with disabilities
• students and youth

• A modest income

  What is a modest income

  The following table provides a guideline of what is considered a modest income. In general, a modest income means the total family income is less than or equal to the amount shown in the chart below, based on the size of the family.

  Community organizations can adjust the total family income for their clients based on the local economic environment, the population they serve, and their resources. Organizations may also create additional criteria for the community they serve. If a host organization chooses to modify the family income amounts for their tax clinic, they should include the details when posting their clinic information on Canada.ca.

  Family size includes an individual, or a couple, and their dependants.

  Suggested income levels

  Family size	Total family income
  1 person	$40,000
  2 people	$55,000
  3 people	$60,000
  4 people	$65,000
  5 people	$70,000
  More than 5 people	$70,000, plus $5,000 for each additional person

• A simple tax situation

  What is a simple tax situation

  As a participating CVITP organization, you can offer to file both current and prior year tax returns for individuals with a simple tax situation. In general, a tax situation is simple if an individual has no income or if their income comes from these sources:

  • employment
  • pension
  • benefits, such as the Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security, disability insurance, employment insurance, and social assistance
  • Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs)
  • scholarships, fellowships, bursaries, or grants
  • interest (under $1,200)

  The CVITP does not provide training or support for complex tax situations. Volunteers should not complete returns with the following:

  • self-employment income or employment expenses ^{Exception 1}
  • business income and expenses
  • rental income and expenses
  • interest income over $1,200
  • capital gains or losses
  • bankruptcy in the tax year (or the year before, if that return has not yet been filed)
  • deceased person
  • foreign property (Form T1135)
  • foreign income^{Exception 2}

How the program works

The CVITP is a collaboration between community organizations and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Community organizations plan and schedule their tax clinics and recruit volunteers. They have the flexibility to decide when and how often to host their free tax clinics, whether year-round or only during tax season.

The duration of their clinics is based on each organization’s capacity and the needs of their community. An organization can host tax clinics at several locations and offer varying sessions and schedules at each clinic. Free tax clinics can be offered:

• on a walk-in basis
• by appointment
• by drop-off and pick-up
• virtually, which serves eligible individuals:
  • in a province/territory
  • in Northern communities in prescribed zones
  What are virtual tax clinics

  An organization can also offer its services virtually to eligible individuals within the same province or territory at a scheduled time by video conference or by phone. For those living in Northern communities (prescribed zones), the volunteer may or may not be located within the same province or territory.

The following factors may help in determining the types of clinics an organization chooses to run:

• the space available
• the number of volunteers involved
• the number of people in their community that need help

Support the CRA offers your organization

The CVITP is committed to helping people with a modest income and a simple tax situation file their taxes free of charge, so that they can receive the benefit and credit payments they are entitled to. CRA supports both participating organizations and volunteers by:

• offering guidance and support to organizations
• providing training for volunteers
• providing free tax preparation software
• operating a year-round dedicated help line for volunteers
• providing promotional material
• donating used laptops to eligible organizations (quantities limited)
• providing volunteers, who meet certain requirements, access to the CRA’s EFILE  and Auto-fill my return services
• promoting CVITP tax clinics on Canada.ca

Important

Volunteers are not expected to answer complex tax questions. If a taxpayer needs information that is beyond the volunteer’s expertise, they should first visit canada.ca/taxes. If they still need assistance, they can call 1-800-959-8281.

Volunteers should only complete tax returns they feel comfortable preparing based on the information the taxpayer gives them.

Organization’s responsibilities

All CVITP organizations must be located in Canada in order to host free tax clinics in Canada. In addition, organizations must ensure that their regular business activities are clearly separated from any CVITP-related activities.

As a participating organization, you are responsible for:

•  planning and hosting your tax clinics free of charge
•  recruiting volunteers
•  sending your tax clinic schedules to your CVITP officer
•  ensuring that tax clinics are held in a secure and private environment
•  ensuring that taxpayer information is kept secure and confidential
•  distributing the tax software keys to your volunteers
•  sharing your CVITP Organization Identification Number (COIN) with volunteers who are affiliated with your organization
•  validating police records checks of your volunteers (for the CVITP, police records checks are valid as long as they’ve been issued within the past three years)
•  ensuring that volunteers do not share or use someone else’s EFILE number
•  ensuring that your volunteers have received their approval email before they start volunteering at your tax clinic
•  ensuring that volunteers affiliated with your organization conduct themselves in a professional and respectful manner
•  ensuring that volunteers affiliated with your organization meet the CVITP requirements that apply for their roles 
•  ensuring that volunteers affiliated with your organization register for the training sessions offered by the program
•  ensuring that taxpayers served at your clinics are respected regardless of race, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, age, or religion
•  ensuring that volunteers delete all electronic documents containing taxpayer information no later than 48 hours after their transmission to and acceptance by the CRA (unless you are offering ReFILE service, in which case you can keep the documents for 28 days)

Compliance with the CRA

CVITP organizations must ensure that their affiliated volunteers comply with the program terms and conditions of use, meet their responsibilities and immediately inform a CVITP officer of any non compliance.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) reserves the right to suspend any organization that violates the program terms or conditions of use, does not meet their responsibilities, or is involved in any disreputable conduct that would reflect adversely on the program.

Register your organization

Your organization needs to register with the CVITP every year to participate in the program.

To avoid delays, register your organization in late October to be ready for tax season. The program runs year-round but most clinics are busiest during tax season (late February to early May).

After you complete your registration, a CVITP officer will contact you to ensure you have all the information you need to host a free tax clinic.

• For organziations outside of Quebec

  Applies to:

  • Alberta
  • British Columbia
  • Manitoba
  • New Brunswick
  • Newfoundland and Labrador
  • Nova Scotia
  • Northwest Territories
  • Nunavut
  • Ontario
  • Prince Edward Island
  • Saskatchewan
  • Yukon

  Go to: Register my organization

  If your organization is approved to participate in the program, you will be assigned a CVITP Organization Identification Number (COIN) to retain for the duration of your organization’s participation in the program.

  For more information, contact a CVITP officer or call 1-800-959-8281.

• For organizations in Quebec

  Tax clinics in Quebec are hosted through the Income Tax Assistance - Volunteer Program (ITAVP)

  Refer to: Register as a community organization (for the province of Quebec only)

Summary of steps when becoming a CVITP organization

This checklist provides an overview of the steps for hosting a free tax clinic. You will find full instructions in the training and support materials that the CRA gives to CVITP host organizations and volunteers.