Top 5 tax tips for students

It’s springtime, which means rain — possibly snow — exams and, of course, taxes.

For many, taxes are not exactly the most intuitive of tasks. For Dalhousie Commerce students however, tax returns can be a fundamental aspect of their academic experience, especially for students who are eager to pursue a professional accounting designation.

Last month, several of Dal’s undergraduate Commerce students were able to apply their knowledge of tax and accounting by volunteering to complete people’s tax returns for free. This service was organized through Dalhousie’s first Volunteer Tax Clinic, a group supported by the Canada Revenue Agency’s Community Volunteer Tax Program.

The Volunteer Tax Clinic was initiated by Laura Cumming, a lecturer in Dalhousie’s Faculty of Management.

“One of my main objectives with my students is to get them relevant experience that will help them in their classes and help them gain experience and build their resumes and I thought [the Volunteer Tax Clinic] would be a great way to bring it all together," says Prof. Cumming.

The student volunteers with the tax clinic offered their time and expertise during three different workshops, where other students and community members could come in and work with a volunteer as well as a supervising tax professional in order to have their tax returns completed for free. People even had the option of leaving their material with the clinic in order to have it filled out and filed for them.

Connecting with community

The clinic also reached out to some community groups by sending its volunteers to  Laing House and the Adsum House shelter.

“We were able to help some people who are in a position where they have more important things going on than trying to get their taxes filed, yet once their taxes are filed they are eligible for certain benefits that they wouldn’t have received otherwise," says Prof. Cumming. "We were fortunate to be able to connect with these organizations, as it provided the opportunity to meet interesting people and deal with tax situations that were different from the typical student profile that was observed in our clinic.”

The mostly third-year students who volunteered with the tax clinic gained great experience for their resume and got to network with the various advisory tax professionals who attended each session. Most importantly, the students were able to help members of their community with a task that can be difficult to comprehend and execute properly.

“The biggest benefit that has come from this experience has been seeing the relief that students got from getting their taxes done for free. It can be a confusing process for many people, and being able to help out a little bit was very rewarding,” says Amanda Lewis, a student volunteer with the tax clinic who was an integral part of the group’s social media management.

The Dalhousie Tax Clinic’s sessions have come to a close for this year, but Prof. Cumming and the student volunteers are already thinking about how to improve the program for next year. One of the challenges that the students and Ms. Cumming were surprised to face was the initial lack of demand for the tax clinic’s services. However, once the word started to spread, the volunteers were kept busy.

“A big challenge, or so we thought, was getting the word out to the public. We were very worried in the beginning that we ended up cancelling two nights of the clinic — though in the we had a great turn out, particularly from international students,” says Teri Nagle another student volunteer from the tax clinic.

Top tax tips

It’s not too late to benefit from the tax clinic’s advice. The following is a list of helpful tax tips compiled by two of the clinic’s volunteers, Sarah Bolivar and Jonathan Weinstein.
 
1. RRSP withdrawals: Under the Lifetime Learning Plan you can withdraw money tax-free from your RRSP to help finance your education or the education of your spouse or common law partner.
 
2. Child-care expenses and education: If you have incurred child-care expenses to allow you to attend school, or carry on research for which you hold a grant, you may be able to deduct some or all of these expenses.
 
3. The GST/HST credit: Even if you did not work during the tax year, you should still file a return. If you are eligible for the GST/HST credit, filing your tax annually will allow you to receive this benefit.
 
4. Tuition and textbooks credits: Students that attend post-secondary institutions within Canada, or outside of Canada for a duration of at least 3 weeks, qualify for the tuition tax credit. Additional ancillary and examination fees are eligible to be included in these costs. This credit amounts to 15 per cent of total eligible fees paid to the institution, which are outlined in the T2202A tax slips provided by your school. The credit simply reduces the amount of tax you owe to the government, if any.

Tax credits for education and textbook amounts are also available to all students that attend qualifying programs, and are fixed values that are predetermined by the CRA from year to year.
 
If students do not have enough income to apply these credits, they may be transferred to a parent or grandparent. The maximum transfer value is $5,000, and only amounts in excess of taxable income less the personal credit, CPP and EI credits are eligible. If there are amounts in excess of the maximum transferrable amount, these can be carried forward indefinitely by the student and used in future tax years.

5. Public Transit Tax Credit: Students that travel to school via public commuter transit services, such as the bus, are eligible to claim a tax credit on amounts paid for this transit, so long as they are monthly passes, weekly passes, or electronic payment cards. The tax credit amounts to 15 per cent of total costs relating to these passes.
 
For more information, visit the Canada Revenue Agency website.