Volunteers needed for the upcoming tax season

Just Harvest needs you to volunteer this coming tax season: January through mid-April!

You may not know this, but tax season is amazing.

Every year – thanks to many, many dedicated volunteers, like Vaughn in the above video (who we recently hired as permanent tax staff!) – we help a few thousand low-income families access several million dollars in tax credits.

In 2023, many low-income families who may have never filed a tax return before will still be able to file to access the 2021 expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which helped tens of millions of low-income and cut child poverty in half.

But wait, why taxes?

Very often when we meet with a new volunteer who is just learning about Just Harvest, we start to talk about taxes and a look of confusion comes across their face: What in the world do taxes have to do with hunger and poverty?

The answer is simple: the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) do more to lift working families out of poverty than any other program in the country. This critical safety net measure lifted over 10.6 million Americans completely out of poverty in 2018, about half of whom were children. It reduced poverty for nearly 24 million Americans, 6.4 million of whom were children. The newly expanded CTC is projected to cut U.S. child poverty in half.

For many of the people we serve, their EITC will provide more than 40% of their annual income. It’s just not fair that they should have to pay a private tax prep company about $180 every year to access a public benefit that could lift them out of poverty. Worse, for-profit tax assistance sites often steer their clients toward poor financial decisions, like by promoting instant refunds – in the form of a hefty high-cost short-term loan.

Besides reducing poverty, the EITC has some other really awesome impacts, as proven by research:

What is our impact?

During the 2021 tax season – despite the COVID-19 pandemic – 226 volunteers prepared over 7,000 tax returns, delivering $13.6 million in refunds back to Southwestern PA residents. Volunteers connecting low-income households to their full tax refund make a huge difference in our communities.

Volunteering will be rewarding and fun …

  • Tax experience is not necessary but is appreciated!
  • Volunteers choose their tax sites and schedules.
  • We provide IRS Tax Certification and training.
  • Volunteers work with taxpayers from all over Pittsburgh.
  • Education Credits and internships are available.
  • Staff are available to answer questions and provide support.
  • It’s OK if taxes aren’t for you – we need greeters, too!

Tax program volunteer requirements:

  • All volunteers must complete the IRS Tax Certification exam and training.
  • All new volunteers must have a background check.
  • All volunteers must be computer proficient. 

Volunteer!

Tax volunteer registration for the 2024 season starts in October 2023. You can learn more here about being a tax volunteer. Enter your name and phone number to be contacted when more information is available:


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One Response to Volunteers needed for the upcoming tax season

  1. isabellas June 22, 2022 at 7:40 am #

    I will ask my friends, since they already had experience in the last and the season before last, they really liked it, I think they would like to do this this year and help people!

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