"When you're desperate, 15 days can make a big difference.H&R Block offers four tiers of online tax preparation programs for the 2023 filing season: Free, Deluxe, Premium, and Business & Premium. "The issue is cash flow," says Rick Eagan, community development coordinator at St. Are these people willing to give up some of that precious refund to get their hands on money now? Still, it often comes down to personal circumstances. Christopher House, which caters to lower income residents in Toronto. "We try to tell them that they don't need to pay $40 or $50 to get their taxes prepared, they can get it done here for free," says Viji Naguleswaran, a community financial worker at St. "Many don't know that instant refunds are available."įor those who do know, it can be a tough sell to have people wait a few weeks to get all their money. Coordinator Bonnie Yeung says she hasn't seen the two or three-week wait for a refund being a big issue for the clinic's clients.īut she acknowledges that many of them don't know much about the tax system. Most received refunds last year, but not instant refunds. The average income of the clients that clinic served was less than $12,000. WoodGreen Community Services, which caters to lower income people in Toronto's east end, runs a free income tax clinic that more than 1,000 people attended last year. Instead of one big lump sum - delivered through a tax refund - the new Ontario Trillium Benefit will send monthly cheques to recipients, beginning in July. That's because the Ontario government has changed the way it delivers those benefits. Many lower income residents in Ontario will find they won't be in line for a big income tax refund this year. But for smaller refunds, she says it can actually be cheaper to get an instant refund than pay Liberty's tax preparation fee and then wait for the refund. "Yes, the larger refunds are more costly," says Karen Strongoli, director of operations at Liberty Tax Service. "I think it's a misconception that it's just poor people."Īnd while $110 does seem to be a hefty charge for what can amount to a two-week loan of $1,490 (a $1,600 refund less the fee), the discounters point out that the fee does include the cost of preparing the return. "Sometimes, it's a case of 'if I don't get an instant refund, I don't make my rent'," says Cleo Hamel, a senior tax analyst at H&R Block in Calgary.īut she also says that a wide range of clients choose the instant refund route - people who are paying back an RRSP loan or going on a trip or those who simply want the money right away. The big tax discounters acknowledge that many of the people who've taken advantage of instant refunds need the money right away. To get an instant refund, you have to pay a tax preparation service that offers discounting. For one, they say the income tax return isn't an easy form to negotiate for many Canadians.īut the other reason is more of a pocketbook one: filing yourself or going to a free tax clinic means having to wait for your money. Those who work in the field say there are several answers to these questions. Who agrees to pay $110 to get their tax refund instantly, given that the CRA can process and deliver a refund in as little as two weeks?īy the same token, why don't people do their own taxes or, if they're eligible, use inexpensive online tax programs or the services of one of the many free income tax clinics offered by community centres or accounting volunteers? A $1,600 refund - close to the average refund last year, according to the CRA - would result in a fee of $110. A $1,000 refund would attract a fee of $80. So those getting a $300 refund would be charged $45 to get instant access to their money. The Tax Rebate Discounting Act of 1985 spells it all out.ĭiscounters are allowed to charge no more than 15 per cent on the first $300 of the refund and five per cent of anything above that. These instant refunds come at a cost, of course. At the number-two chain in Canada, Liberty Tax Service, about 35 per cent of clients, or a little more than 100,000 people, received instant refunds for the 2010 tax year. Tax discounting, as it's called, has become a major part of the business at tax preparation firms in Canada.Īt H&R Block, more than 820,000 clients signed up for instant refunds last year - about 40 per cent of the two million or so returns the company processed. It's a deal that 1,068,395 Canadians took last year, according to the Canada Revenue Agency.īut it comes with a catch - a fee that can be as high as 15 per cent of the refund in certain cases. Then they learn they have the option of getting it right away.
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