If you have a modest income and a simple tax situation, a program volunteer will help you complete your income tax returns and claim all the benefits and tax credits you are entitled to.

Modest income

The suggested income limits are shown below. The income limits set by a community organization may differ from those in the table since organizations are free to adjust income limits depending on local economic context, the population served and their resources. Contact the organization in your area to check your eligibility.

Suggested income limits

Person living alone	$40,000
Couple1If the couple has one or more dependants, add five thousand dollars to the income limit for each additional dependant.	$55,000
One adult with one dependant2Add five thousand dollars to the income limit for each additional dependant.	$55,000

1. If the couple has one or more dependants, add $5,000 to the income limit for each additional dependant.
2. Add $5,000 to the income limit for each additional dependant.

Simple tax situation

Generally speaking, your tax situation is considered simple if you do not have any income or if your income comes from any of the following:

• employment
• a pension
• benefits such as those from the Québec Pension Plan, a disability insurance plan employment insurance or social assistance
• income or an annuity from a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP)
• support payments
• a scholarship
• income from interest (less than $1,200)

Your situation is not considered simple if any of the following apply: 

• You are self-employed or have employment expenses (however, we consider your situation simple if your income is less than $1,000, you do not have employment expenses and you are not registered or required to register for the GST or QST).
• You have rental or business income and expenses.
• You own property outside Canada or have foreign income.
• You sold a residence.
• You have capital gains or losses.
• You declared bankruptcy during the taxation year (or in the previous year if you have not yet filed your federal and Québec income tax returns).
• You must complete a deceased person's return.

Program volunteers are not required to handle complex tax questions or returns. If your tax situation is complicated, use this website or the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) website to find the answers to your questions. You can also contact us or the CRA directly.

Some volunteers may file tax returns for previous years. However, they will only complete returns that they believe they can file based on the information you provide.

Income tax return preparation sessions

Participating community organizations throughout Québec hold income tax return preparation sessions where program volunteers complete eligible individuals' income tax returns. Organizations may choose to offer tax preparation services by appointment or on a walk-in basis, or may offer a drop-off and pick-up option.

Most income tax return preparation sessions are held during the day in March and April for income tax returns for the previous year. However, some organizations offer tax preparation services outside of this period.

To see the list of income tax return preparation sessions scheduled in Québec, click List of Organizations Offering Income Tax Return Preparation Sessions.

Required documents

Remember to bring valid government-issued photo identification, your information slips and RL slips, your receipts, your notices of assessment for the previous year and any other relevant documents. Volunteers will need them to complete your federal and Québec income tax returns.

Your employer (or their payer or administrator) is responsible for preparing your information and RL slips. You should receive most of your slips and receipts by the end of February following the taxation year for which you must file your income tax return. If you are missing an information or RL slip, you can get a copy as follows:

• For federal slips: sign in to My Account for Individuals or call the CRA's general information line at 1 800 959-7383 (also see Skip the Line – Get faster help from the CRA for answers to common questions and information about your CRA account)
• For Québec slips: sign in to My Account for individuals

Auto-fill my return and Tax Data Download services

If you don't have all your tax slips, volunteers can get some of them using the CRA's Auto-fill my return service or Revenu Québec's Tax Data Download (TDD) service to file your income tax returns.

Auto-fill my return is an optional and secure CRA service that allows eligible program volunteers to automatically fill in parts of your federal income tax return using software provided under the program. With your authorization, volunteers can access your CRA file through the Represent a Client service and use the information available at the time of filing your federal income tax return. Note that not all volunteers have access to this service.

The Tax Data Download (TDD) service is a secure Revenu Québec service that lets program volunteers who have been authorized by the CRA and Revenu Québec automatically complete parts of your Québec income tax return using software provided under the program. The TDD service allows volunteers to access information held by Revenu Québec when filing your Québec income tax return.