tax aid
The GSA Tax Aid services will resume in March 2025.
The GSA-UW hosts an Income Tax Seminar and a series Income Tax Aid Clinic for graduate students. The both services are held in March and April each year to help graduate students learn how to complete their income tax return forms. Consultations are provided for graduate students registered this term (GSA-UW members) and who have paid the GSA Association Fee. Please note that the GSA-UW does not provide a tax filing service.
The Tax Aid services provided by the GSA are divided into 2 sections:
- Income Tax Seminar: The GSA puts together an informational sessions regarding the basics of filing your income tax here in Canada. We host a live session at the beginning of March for students to attend and learn about the process. We also have a pre-recorded video that can be viewed if you are unable to attend the session live. IMPORTANT: It is expected to have attended the session or viewed the video prior to attend a consultation appointment with our Accountant.
- Consultation Appointments: The GSA Accountant hosts 15-minute sessions in March and April to help answer any questions you may have regarding filing your taxes. They will also be able to review your completed tax forms to ensure you have completed them correctly. IMPORTANT: They will not be able to sit down and fill your tax return for you.
Tax returns are due to the Canada Revenue Agency on April 30, 2025.
To book your 15-minute in person/ phone session with our Tax Accountant, please scroll to the bottom of the page to book your appointment now!
Income Tax Seminar for Graduate Students
Thursday, March 14: 2:00-3:00 PM in SLC 3216 (Grad Lounge)
A Tax Seminar is held by the GSA Accountant for general information each March. This seminar will provide an overview of the Canadian income tax return submission process. No registration is required. For questions please email the General Manager. This in-person workshop will follow University of Waterloo COVID-19 guidelines. Face masks are not required.
If you cannot attend, please see below for a video recording made by the GSA Accountant, that explains the income tax return process. With the video, refer to the attached PowerPoint Presentation that you can download, print, and use to take notes as you watch the video.
This video seminar and PowerPoint Presentation is designed to introduce you to income tax in Canada with a focus on those tax issues most applicable to students. The video provides reference to two documents prepared by the Canadian tax authorities which further supplement the presentation. You are strongly encouraged to read these two documents.
After watching the video and reading the two documents, you should be somewhat comfortable with filling your tax return.
Update on Video:
Please note that our Income Tax Seminar video was recorded in 2020 by our Accountant. This video will still be very helpful to you for filing your taxes for because little has changed since the video was recorded, with the following exceptions:
- PPT file provided has been updated to reflect the filing of 2023 tax returns, including date updates. There are actually two basic personal amounts related to the second point on the slide “Non-refundable tax credits”. The first amount relates to what the federal government allows, while the second amount relates to what the Ontario government allows.
- Dates mentioned in the video will now be 3 years later.
- A tax seminar is planned for Thursday, March 14: 2:00-3:00 PM in SLC 3216 (Grad Lounge)
- Reference made early in the video to the URL for the Canada Revenue Agency. All URLs were changed in 2020, Canada replaced CRA as per the ppt file
- Deadline for filing 2022 tax returns April 30, including remittance of monies owed.
- Tax clinics for one-on-one conversations (either in-person or via phone) run through the end of April 2024.
- There are now two more credits you can now apply for: Canada Training Credit and the Climate Action Incentive.
- There is now one more link you need to access in order to use the on-line version of UFile. The last link is called, “Click here to learn if you qualify to use UFile for free”.