This is an archive of news stories and research from the National Union of Public and General Employees. Please see our new site - https://nupge.ca - for the most current information.
“People need to file their tax and benefit forms by the deadline every year to receive benefits and supports from dozens of programs including the Guaranteed Income Supplement for seniors and the Canada child benefit.”
Ottawa (13 May 2020) — To ensure that low-income Canadians don’t lose the income supports they need to survive, Canadians for Tax Fairness is calling on the federal government to extend the tax-filing deadline for low-income individuals.
People need to file their tax and benefit forms by the deadline every year to receive benefits and supports from dozens of programs, including the Guaranteed Income Supplement for seniors and the Canada Child Benefit. If people aren’t able to file their taxes, they won’t be able to get help from those programs.
Over 800,000 people rely on volunteer-run community tax clinics
At the same time, over 800,000 rely on help from volunteer-run community tax clinics to complete their taxes. Because these clinics have been shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it will be very difficult for the people who normally rely on them to file their taxes before the deadline.
That means many low income Canadians are at risk of losing benefits they depend on to get by.
Send a message to get the deadline extended
There is an opportunity for people to make their voices heard. Canadians for Tax Fairness has a message people can send to the Prime Minister, cabinet ministers and their member of Parliament, calling for the tax filing deadline to be extended, so low-income Canadians aren’t left struggling to survive.