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| Path: Main Street : NewsWeek : Op/Ed : Audience Opinions |
Volunteer tax credits: Do or die
E-mail us your thoughts today at editor@charityvillage.com.I read your article in Charity Village with interest, however I am not happy to see the direction in which this issue is going (not considering tax credits for volunteer hours).
I believe that the real issue behind this matter is that government NEEDS to take notice of volunteerism in Canada, and the only way they will do this for sure is by seeing the true numbers on each volunteer's tax returns. Also, by being on the tax form, as a credit, people could take advantage of this item, if they earned it and claimed the proper credit amount. (So now the government officially knows the true hours and the public knows they can earn a tax credit by volunteering)
I am always discouraged to see the same old line that "more study is necessary". FYI, we have studied the sector to death and the only people really benefiting and getting money "from more study" are the academics and the foundations who are meeting their grant quota by giving out more grants to people who do not the work on the front-line.
More money for the sector on front-line delivery of services, and incentives for volunteerism for these organizations is what is really needed, not more study. Here is some insight, without more study; Canada's core volunteers are burning out and we would like help and some recognition for the work we do on our own time!! Like they say in the non-profit sector "STP", same ten people, (doing all the work).
The issue of tax credits does not have to be that complicated. On the tax form, the tax payer makes a declaration of the volunteer hours he/she worked in the year. The personal tax credit could be set up as a range, say starting at 1-50, 50 to 100, 100 to 130, 130 to 150, etc etc, and this gives you a personal tax credit of X amount. The more hours the more credit on their taxes. FYI, many seniors do not have any ability to claim tax credits against their taxes, (can't contribute to RRSP's, etc), so here is a good place to help them out as well.
Like I said, the issue of volunteerism will never be taken serious by the government until it is formally registered on everyone's tax return. By having it set up on a voluntary declaration basis, like the tax system should be, then the charities and nonprofits only have to improve their tracking systems of volunteer hours, so that they are open for audit by tax, as a confirmation step on the tax payer's declaration.
FYI, without further study, the tracking system of volunteer hours is not accurately recorded in most small and medium size non-profits and charities, (because they don't have the resources and time to do it) so this would be a good incentive to start recording all hours, because if your volunteer requests a tax credit, it would be an insult to them, if your own organization did not have the records to back up your right to claim a tax credit. This lack of recording of hours is also not giving a true picture for the people doing the studies, plus better recording systems are needed in the sector.
Without further study, as a volunteer, it costs me money to take on these volunteer duties (gas, bus, parking, cleaning my clothes/uniform, ink for printer, paper, email hook-up, etc, etc). Now I am NOT looking for 100% repayment of these out-of-pocket expenses, but it would be nice to get some official recognition and compensation from the government, and not just my own organizations recognizing and appreciating my efforts.
One final issue, by having the tax credit in a range form, people would have incentive to increase their hours so that they could claim a larger personal tax credit, like you see on many fund raising initiatives, when they give out larger prizes for the more money raised.
Instead of funding more studies, my belief is that there should be more funding for volunteer co-ordinator positions. Then these dedicated positions could help the sector by recruiting, training and developing volunteers, as well as accurately recording all their hours so that these community service workers can claim their well deserved tax credit. (Regular paid human resources get a personal tax credit, so why not the volunteers, who are also deemed to be human resources in the organization).
-- Don Freese
Winnipeg, Manitoba
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