Taxes and Access to Benefits

Boosting income through tax filing and support with accessing benefits

Evidence from Canada, the U.S. and other areas shows that many low-income people can quickly boost their incomes – sometimes by as much as 50 per cent - if they have the tools and strategies to claim and receive all the government benefits they’re entitled to.

There are successful interventions aimed at quickly boosting the incomes of people living in poverty by enabling those who have not done so, to easily file their taxes and to access government benefits to which they are entitled.

Successful interventions include:

Public awareness campaigns to improve tax filing and benefits take-up.
Use of technology-enabled tools to increase public benefits screening and uptake.
Creation of access points for benefits screening in high-need communities.
Establishment of free/low-cost community tax preparation services.

Our Work

Resources

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