United Way seeking Free Tax Prep volunteers for 2026
PITTSBURGH (Nov. 5, 2025) – United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania is seeking volunteers to prepare tax returns and greet clients at 23 Free Tax Preparation Coalition sites in Allegheny, Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties in 2026. No tax experience is required, and free IRS training is provided for volunteers. Around 450 volunteers are needed to staff tax sites that operate from late January through mid-April. Registration is open now through the end of the year and daytime, evening and weekend shifts are available. Visit United Way’s website to sign up.
“Anyone can be a free tax prep volunteer,” said Emily Schmidlapp, United Way’s manager of moving to financial stability. “Our partners at Just Harvest provide exceptional training, so even if you’ve never done taxes before, they’ll teach you what you need to know. We’re always looking for greeters for our sites, too, so if taxes really aren’t your thing, that’s a great way to get involved. This is such a unique opportunity to have a significant, immediate impact on people’s lives. Our volunteers come back year after year because they love the experience.”
About the Free Tax Preparation Coalition: United Way’s Free Tax Prep Coalition is led in partnership with Just Harvest and made up of 12 organizations and hundreds of volunteers providing free tax preparation services to thousands of taxpayers across five counties. United Way receives funding from the IRS’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, which it distributes to partners through a request for proposal process. The coalition serves individuals earning up to $50,000 and households earning up to $70,000. Volunteers save clients tax preparation fees and are trained to maximize the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credits, which can total 50% of a household’s annual income.
In the 2025 tax season, 350 Free Tax Prep Coalition volunteers prepared 9,257 tax returns in-person and via United Way’s MyFreeTaxes online filing service, generating a total $12.2 million in refunds and saving clients an estimated $2.5 million in tax prep fees. Of those served, 20% have a household member with a disability, half have adjusted gross incomes under $20,000 and the majority work multiple jobs. Since United Way began leading the coalition in 2009, volunteers have prepared nearly 130,000 returns, generating a total $212 million in refunds and saving clients an estimated $29 million in tax prep fees.