United Way seeking Free Tax Prep volunteers for 2027
United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania is seeking volunteers to prepare tax returns and greet clients at 27 Free Tax Preparation Coalition sites in Allegheny, Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties in 2027. 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. Daytime, evening and weekend shifts are available. Visit United Way’s website for more information and to register.
“We’re looking for compassionate, service-minded people who want to make a big difference on an individual level,” said Emily Schmidlapp, United Way’s manager of Moving to Financial Stability. “Anyone can be a volunteer and, if you’ve never done taxes before, our partners at Just Harvest provide exceptional training with everything you need to know. The more volunteers we mobilize this tax season, the more returns we can file for free. This service is so critical when many of our neighbors are working hard but still not keeping up with the cost of living.” Every volunteer matters: on average each volunteer generates about $45,000 in refunds and fees saved in that tax year.
About the Free Tax Preparation Coalition: United Way’s Free Tax Prep Coalition is led in partnership with Just Harvest and includes 14 organizations providing free tax preparation services to clients across five counties. Every year, United Way receives funding from the IRS’ Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program and agencies apply to be Free Tax Prep Coalition partners. Just Harvest leads training for hundreds of volunteers, who serve taxpayers at 27 tax site locations. The coalition serves individuals earning up to $50,000 and households of two or more 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 2026 tax season, 361 Free Tax Prep Coalition volunteers helped 10,296 taxpayers file returns in-person and via United Way’s MyFreeTaxes online filing service, generating a total $15.6 million in refunds and saving clients an estimated $2.8 million in tax prep fees. Since United Way began leading the coalition in 2009, volunteers have prepared 140,005 returns for free, generating a total $227.4 million in refunds and saving clients an estimated $32.2 million in tax prep fees.