Free Tax Help at Community Information Centre

The centre, which is supported by the City of Melville, will have fully trained, expert volunteers on hand from this week until Friday, 31 October, to assist eligible people to fill in their tax forms.

Centre Coordinator Brian Anstey said the free Tax Help scheme, a project developed by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), had been offered at the centre for the past five years and it had proven very popular with the local community. “The volunteers are trained and certified by the ATO and are very understanding and helpful,” he said. “They will guide residents through the tax return form, step by step, to make sure all the details are correct and can often lodge the return to the ATO on their behalf.”

There is a range of criteria that individuals will have to meet to be eligible to receive tax help, including earning less than $35,000 in income each year. When people phone up or come in to make a booking, the centre’s friendly volunteers will go through the list of criteria to see if they are eligible. The volunteers will also tell people what they need to bring in when they come in for their appointment, including group certificates and other pertinent papers. All personal details are treated in a strictly confidential manner.

The Community Information Centre tax-help service will operate in the afternoons from Monday to Thursday. Bookings for August are filling up quickly and people are encouraged to contact the centre as soon as possible to make an appointment.

The centre is situated next to the Post Office at the western end of Garden City Shopping Centre. Phone 9364 9083 for bookings.

The volunteer-run Community Information Centre is set up as a place where members of the community can seek advice or obtain information on a wide range of subjects, including Neighbourhood Watch, Council services and programs or make use of the volunteer Justice of the Peace service. The centre is supported by the WA Police, City of Melville as well as Garden City Shopping Centre, which provides the premises as a community service.