“To the awesome volunteer doing my taxes at Collingwood, as a single mother with a brain injury I cannot do my own taxes or afford to pay to have them done. I need my child tax [benefits] and GST [rebate]. Your support is truly a miracle in our life! The little things you do can make a really big difference in peoples lives. Thank you ever so much!”
We are always on the lookout for awesome talent such as yourself. But before you do anything else, a "little heads up", all volunteer candidates, particularly those wanting to assist in income tax preparation should:
Have basic working knowledge of the Canadian taxation system (either have taken some introductory level tax course or have done equivalent coursework and/or work experience (i.e. you work in accounting or you have done your own taxes for the last couple years etc.).
Be very comfortable working with computers and navigating around different programs.
Be able to communicate effectively with a variety people (i.e. you are not shy) - everything we do is client facing.
Exhibit high levels of integrity, professionalism and respect client privacy.
If you are missing some of these critical skills, the learning curve can be quite steep based on previous experience. However, not all of our volunteers do income tax preparation, some handle logistics/setup, hosting, information technology support, marketing, training, recruiting, engagement, etc. So there are definitely other areas to contribute within the program while we work with you to build up your skill sets if you are interested. Please let us know in your Statement of Interest.
If you are a new volunteer (a newbie) to the CVITP, you musT
Before you register with the Canada Revenue Agency as a Volunteer for the CVITP, register for you EFILE and REPID (see below for instructions), then go here, to register as a CVITP volunteer. Please indicate under the appropriate section that you wish to volunteer for "Collingwood Neighbourhood House". You should complete steps 2 and 3 first prior to doing this as you might need to input both your EFILE and REPID into the form.
Register for an EFILE number (only if you are going to be doing income tax preparation and transmitting client returns electronically). Host volunteers do not need to do this step. Go here. Complete this as soon as you can as it can take up to 30 days or more to fully process.
Select "Volunteer by CRA invitation"
Put in "Community Volunteer Income Tax Program" as the organization/proprietorship/partnership name
Put your name into "Contact Name" Field
Select T1 Return Type Only
Select YES - Transmitting T1013 (authorized to use the auto fill feature)
Enter your home address as business and mailing addresses
Fill in information for Applicant 1 only (SIN#, Name, and "Volunteer" as title)
Select NO - don't let CRA release your information to the public.
Security Protocol box - "we do not keep or store any client information"
Register for an REPID, optional but helpful, so that you can get access to CVITP’s new Autofill service. You can go here to get it.
Submit a recent copy of your resume and a brief statement of interest to us. You can elaborate on why you are interested in joining the program or what skills you bring etc. so we can figure out how to integrate and train you.
Members of our talent wranglers team will do the candidate assessment that may include a phone or in-person interviews etc.. Successful candidates will then be formally invited to Orientation Day to meet the rest the team and begin their training and on-boarding as the newest members of our team.
All new volunteers must complete a Collingwood Neighbourhood House Volunteer Registration Form as well as complete a free complimentary criminal record search as per Collingwood Neighbourhood House and CVITP protocols.
If you are a returning volunteer to the CVITP, you musT
You will need to re-register as a volunteer. Go here. Make sure you designate "Collingwood Neighbourhood House" as one of the organizations that you wish to volunteer for when completing this step. Please do steps 2 and 3 first, you will need both your EFILE and REPID on the volunteer registration form.
You will need to renew your EFILE number if you plan to prepare client tax returns. Host volunteers do not have to complete this process. Go here. Please do this as soon as you can as this can take up to 30 days or more to process. You will need your EFILE number and password from last year to complete this step. If you forgot your password or having issues completing this part, please call the EFILE Helpdesk at: 1-800-461-1806 during normal operating hours (7:15 am to 6:30 pm Central Standard Time) to reset your password.
Register for an REPID, optional but helpful in certain situations when you prepare returns, so that you can get access to CVITP’s new Autofill service. You can go here to get it.
You will have to sign up and attend one of the mandatory CVITP webinars beginning in mid January to mid March. Optional webinars on special topic specifically with Senior, First Nation, Newcomer returns are available. If you have time or just curious, you can sign up and learn about those as well as our program serves a variety of clients.
If you are a volunteer joining us from another organization you will need to complete both a Volunteer Registration Form and complimentary criminal record search for Collingwood Neighbourhood House as per protocol. We highly recommend that you attend our Orientation Day event