History

The Sprott Tax Students’ Association (STSA) is a club that is dedicated to creating tax literacy events for students and is responsible for running Carleton University’s annual tax clinic. The club was spun-off from the Sprott Accounting Students’ Association (SASA) in April 2021 by then SASA President Blake LeClair, SASA VP Manager Pavan Vjay Kumar, and SASA VP Tax Benjamin McLellan-Campbell. Prior to that date, Carleton University’s student tax clinic was run through a committee on SASA headed by the VP Tax. However, as the tax clinic got larger, it was evident that a new club was necessary.

 

Founded in 1996, Carleton University’s tax clinic has a long history of helping students file their tax returns. According to 1997 coordinator Alan Richter, the tax clinic began as a group of students in the accounting club who wanted to use the knowledge gained in their personal tax course to help fellow students. The tax clinic has always worked in partnership with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), but has since grown to develop partnerships with local accounting firms and tax preparation services such as H&R Block. 

 

To learn more about the history of the tax clinic, you can look at this archive of past tax clinic articles written in The Charlatan - Carleton’s student newspaper