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Tax time and benefits: Canada.
A take-home sheet for people at the session. Other countries: United States · United Kingdom · Australia.
Moraph for Good · Fluent
Tax time and benefits: Canada
Handout · moraph.org/commons/sessions/fluent/tax-time-and-benefits
Filing a return can be how refunds, credits and some benefits reach you. This sheet has what to keep, how to spot a scam, and the free official help where you live.
Why file
- Tax taken from your pay may come back
- Some credits are only paid if you file
- Some benefits use your tax information
Free help first
- Look for free official help before paying
- Ask a paid preparer the full price first
- A refund loan is a loan: ask what it costs
Keep these
- Copies of every return you file
- Income statements and receipts for claims
- Every letter from the tax or benefit office
Scam signs
- Threats of arrest over tax
- Payment by gift card, crypto or payment app
- A refund link sent by text or email
- Go to the official site yourself to check
In Canada
- Free tax clinics. Through the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program, and the Income Tax Assistance – Volunteer Program in Quebec, community organizations host free tax clinics where volunteers complete returns for people with a modest income and a simple tax situation. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) lists clinics by location.
- Filing brings benefits. The CRA administers the Canada child benefit, a tax-free monthly payment for eligible families with children under 18. For the GST/HST credit, now renamed the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit, you generally only needed to file your return each year for the CRA to work out automatically whether you were entitled, and a late return for a past year may still bring a payment.
- Benefits Finder. The Government of Canada’s Benefits Finder helps you find federal benefits and links to your province or territory for local ones.
- Tax scams. The CRA says it may be a scam if someone offers to send your refund by e-transfer or text message, threatens to arrest or deport you, or wants to meet in a public place to collect a payment.
Official places to check:
- Canada Revenue Agency: www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/community-volunteer-income-tax-program.html
- Canada Revenue Agency: www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/child-family-benefits/canada-child-benefit.html
- Canada Revenue Agency: www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/child-family-benefits/gst-hst-credit.html
- Government of Canada: www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/finder.html
- Canada Revenue Agency: www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/corporate/scams-fraud/recognize-scam.html
General information, not advice about your own situation. Checked 19 October 2026. If an official source says something different, it is right. Free to copy and adapt. moraph.org/commons/sessions/fluent/tax-time-and-benefits