Feb 2

Written by: Joe Longo
Monday, February 02, 2009 

The Victoria Avenue Library is pleased once again to host free Income Tax preparation clinics for low income earners.

Members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario and volunteers from the Canada Revenue Agency - Community Volunteer Income Tax Program will be on hand on dates in February and March to complete personal income tax returns.

The Chartered Accountants’ program takes place Wednesday or Thursday evenings beginning February 18th, through March 26. In total there are nine dates available. The thirty minute sessions begin at 6 pm through to 9 pm. They are available to those whose total income is less than $17,000without dependants, or less than $25,000 with dependants.

The Community Volunteer Program sponsored by Canada Revenue Agency will be offered on Mondays March 2nd and March 9th, between 9 am and 3 pm., in the LaMarsh Room. This program provides trained volunteers who give their time to assist you. They are not employees of Canada Customs, or tax experts knowledgeable in complicated tax returns. They are trained to assist in completing simple, straight forward returns.

Registrations are also being taken for this program. Limits for this program are that a single person must have income under $25,000 and a person married or with dependants must have income under $30,000.00. Interest income must be less than $1000. Complex forms with Business Income, Capital Gains or Foreign Pensions are not eligible, nor are Final returns for a taxpayer who has passed away.

Telephone the Library at 905-356-8080 for more information or to register. These programs fill up quickly. Be sure to stop by the library to pick up the checklist of documents you must bring along in order to complete your tax return.

Borrow new books such as “167 tax tips for Canadian small business 2009 : beat the taxman to keep more money in your business” and “101 tax secrets for Canadians : smart strategies that can save you thousands” by Tim Cestnick.

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For 2009 and 2010 Carman Dix has been re-elected as Chair of the Library Board and Blake McIntyre elected as Vice-Chair. We thank very much Renni Piscitelli who served as Vice-Chair during the last two years and continues to be a Board member.

We also thank Guy Prata who announced he is leaving the Board this month after almost thirteen years of dedicated leadership. Guy has been a strong advocate for contemporary library service in Niagara Falls.