Ottawa EMC: ACORN providing free tax returns for low income families
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- Published on Thursday, 24 February 2011 16:44
Low-income families throughout Ottawa won't have to worry about losing a portion of their tax return to processing fees this tax season.
The Ottawa chapter of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now [Canada] (ACORN Canada) is providing free tax return service for the less privileged in the community.
The program is made possible through the efforts of volunteers like Keisha Lim, a fourth-year economics student at the University of Ottawa who is also serving as the tax clinic coordinator.
"On average, we save people around $80 by doing their taxes here," said Lim. "This is the third year that ACORN has been running the tax service. We have done 1,266 tax returns the last two years, and 244 for back taxes. We've put back $1.6 million into the neighbourhood through those savings."
This is the third year the program has been serving the community, and has done roughly 600 returns per year.
"We're here to help people," said Lim. "Instead of putting money in the pockets of corporations, we're letting people keep that money themselves."
The program has helped people from all over the Ottawa area, from places as far away as North Grenville, Kanata, and Orleans.
The program is not only in place to do taxes, but to educate people on benefits they may not know they are eligible for. For example, many Canadian families can qualify for a $500 Canada Learning Bond per child to save for post secondary education.
ACORN Canada has been in existence since 2004 in six Canadian cities and boasts 30,000 members. Their goals, according to their website is to transform "the conditions that adversely affect millions of Canadians can best be achieved with a national active membership who are deeply invested in their organization and focused on lasting socio-economic change."
"A lot of people don't know about ACORN," said Andrea Thomas, a volunteer with the organization. "We're an organization where people can gain information about their area and learn more about their community
Those who wish to take advantage of the program need only to provide all their tax forms, two pieces of ID, their social insurance number. More information is available by calling the Ottawa ACORN office at 613-744-7228. Appointments can also be made in person at the ACORN office at 81 Montreal Rd. The program runs until the end of May.
The original article can be viewed at: http://www.emcottawaeast.ca/20110210/news/ACORN+providing+free+tax+returns+for+low+income+families
