Volunteers ready to sharpen their pencils for tax returns again

STELLARTON - The Community Volunteer Income Tax Program gets a bit bigger each year.
Program scheduler Allan Murray said last year the dedicated group of volunteers prepared 1,600 tax returns, which was up a bit from the previous tax season.
"We see a bit of the same faces every year, but it also grows a bit every year."
The volunteer-driven program (there is a core of 18 volunteers that Murray said are well-trained and experienced) begins Feb. 23 at the Super Store. The program rotates through a series of locations including Sobeys, the Co-op grocery store and the New Glasgow library program room. Sessions are 1 to 4 p.m. daily and are on a first-come, first-served basis, except the library sessions which must be scheduled by appointment.
"It's a free service. It's like a partnership, the tax department provides us with training and advice and we do the returns for free," Murray noted.
He sad it's always helpful and handy if people can bring along their previous year's return to help speed up the process, which takes about 15-30 minutes, depending on the return.
"We do single returns, on-the-spot type things… returns for retirees, mostly in the lower bracket."
The returns are filed electronically and he said most people get their cheques within a couple of weeks.
"We e-file, we do most of all of them by computer; paper ones, we're happy to do that too…We don't do cash back."
Murray also said that people should bring along all receipts for expenses, especially medical and dental. He said people can claim 50.5 cents per kilometre for medical related trips and $17 per meal for up to $51 per day when travelling for medial appointments.
Since tax returns and tax regulations change each year, the volunteers keep abreast of things.
"Every year the tax agents inform us of the changes. We have a training session every year," said Murray.
The program, which has been in operation for 39 years now, wraps up April 30.