April 11, 2025

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Summary:

Data on the results from delivering CVITP service to clients indicate that:

1. The numbers of individuals assisted and returns filed reached new peaks in the 2024 filing period, assisted by an extension to a fourth year of the CRA’s pilot grant project on more generous terms.
2. The average number of returns filed per individual assisted remained at the peak last seen in 2020 and again in 2023, assisted by the CRA’s pilot project which provided grants for more prior years than ever.
3. The value of refunds, benefits and credits generated also increased nationally but the average amounts per individual assisted and per return filed remained largely the same despite inflation related increases to individual benefits and credits.

Data on the infrastructure which supports CVITP service delivery indicate that:

1. The number of host organizations declined after 2020 and was only 3% higher in 2024 than in 2023, despite the introduction of the pilot grant project in 2021 which was specifically designed to raise the number of host organizations by 5% every year.
2. The number of volunteers rose substantially in 2024 but remained short of the record achieved in the 2019 return filing period, just prior to the pandemic.

Analyzing these data using some measures of productivity for CVITP service delivery suggest that:

1. Volunteer tax preparers were only marginally less productive in the 2024 return filing period than in 2023 when the average numbers of individuals assisted and returns filed per volunteer reached record levels.
2. Host organization productivity has fully rebounded since it bottomed out in 2020, reaching record averages for individuals assisted and returns filed per host organization in the 2024 return filing period.

Looking ahead to 2025:

1. The numbers of individuals assisted and returns filed may reach new peaks in 2025.  But the annual growth in both numbers will be more modest than was seen in recent years.
2. The average number of returns filed per individual assisted may remain at 1.15, the high level originally seen in 2020 but repeated in the 2023 and 2024 return filing periods.  It is conceivable that this average will rise but if this happens, it will be only marginally higher.
3. The number of host organizations is unlikely to grow significantly, if at all, in the 2025 tax filing season.
4. The number of volunteers may grow further in 2025 but if it does, it will be only marginally higher than in 2024.
5. In the past two years, both volunteers and host organizations have, on average, been working at some of the highest levels of productivity ever seen in the CVITP.  There are no reasons to believe there may be further productivity improvements within these two factors in 2025.