Carleton students who might struggle to file their taxes have access to a free tax clinic run by the accounting students’ association on campus March 9-13.
Volunteers were set up in the Unicentre atrium from noon to 4 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to help students file their taxes. The clinic is open to any Carleton student who brings necessary documentation.
The clinic has been an annual fixture at Carleton for several years, but this is the first time the Sprott Accounting Students’ Association (SASA) has partnered with the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA), according to clinic organizer Brandon Wills. The partnership combines SASA’s tax clinic with CUSA’s annual financial literacy week.
“[Financial literacy week has] really taken different forms every year, so this year I want to focus on the tax clinic because it’s a very solid way of getting students money back,” CUSA vice-president (student issues) Maddy Porter said.
Students who attend the clinic can fill out a ballot to be entered to win a Loblaws gift card from CUSA. The association also partnered with Scotiabank, which provided a PowerPoint presentation on financial literacy that can be downloaded onto thumb drives and given out to students.
“Sometimes, you’ve got to pull teeth to get people engaged in finances,” Porter said. “It’s definitely not the most attractive topic.”
The clinic was set up in the Tory Building in 2014. Wills said they didn’t receive many students because of the location. This year, CUSA provided the space in the Unicentre atrium and Wills said he expected a larger turnout.
Despite the poor turnout last year, the clinic was popular among those who used it.
“I was receiving emails from faculty about students who asked about it,” Wills said.
The average student gets $1,200 back on their tax return, according to CUSA.
“I think [the clinic is] great for kids who don’t know how to do it, or their parents have never done it, so it’s breaking that cycle,” said Carleton student Ana Jimenez.
SASA began recruiting volunteers in December who watched training videos from the Canadian Revenue Agency to walk them through the tax return process.
Once they graduate, many of the volunteers will be doing similar work in the workforce, Wills said. The campus tax clinic is good experience for them because student taxes are straightforward and usually only involve a few documents, he added.
“It’s really cool to utilize students on campus to have a free service,” Porter said. “It’s students helping students.”
CUSA president Folarin Odunayo said it is important for students to learn about financial responsibility during university.
“It’s not something that we previously focused on in terms of helping students understand that, and I think financial literacy week is a huge step in that direction,” he said.
“Financial literacy is understanding as a student how to save money while at Carleton . . . and making sure that when you’re graduating you’re not in huge debt,” Porter said.
The Canadian Federation of Students reported students in Ontario and the Maritimes graduate with the highest average debt loads at more than $28,000.
