This is a follow up to our early edition on the evolution of the CVITP in 2021.  We consider the CRA’s annual Departmental Results Report the gold standard for CRA reporting because the report is submitted to Parliament.  Even then, data on all four elements – clients, returns, volunteers and host organizations – is hard to come by.  It is growing increasingly difficult for Parliament, the public and the host organizations and volunteers directly involved in making the CVITP a reality to know what’s happening.

In our article, we briefly discuss the numbers and their sources.  We show that the number of clients served rebounded by 43% from the spectacular low of the 2020 tax season.  (Remember: that was the season when host organizations had to stop offering in-person CVITP clinics due to the COVID health restrictions.)  Nevertheless, the number of clients served was still well below the peak achieved during the 2019 tax season.  As the CRA did not report consistently on the number of returns filed, we can only assume that it was greater than the number of clients served.  But we don’t know by how much.

Although the CRA did not report formally on the number of volunteers, we find a number in a statement by the Minister of National Revenue which suggests it declined substantially from the number reported for the 2020 tax season.  The number reported for host organizations represents a spectacular decline from the 2020 tax season.  We note that the numbers provided by the CRA for volunteers and host organizations in the 2020 tax season are misleading in that they likely included those registered with the CRA at the beginning of the season rather than those who were able to adapt to CVITP virtual clinics.  Furthermore, the 2021 figure for volunteers is simply too high to be credible.  In any event, the declines in the number of volunteers and of host organizations over the 2020 and 2021 tax seasons is deeply troubling.