{"id":7762,"date":"2025-10-28T13:51:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T13:51:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/28\/volunteer-tax-preparers-needed-for-2026-season\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T13:51:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T13:51:06","slug":"volunteer-tax-preparers-needed-for-2026-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/28\/volunteer-tax-preparers-needed-for-2026-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Volunteer Tax Preparers Needed for 2026 Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

COLUMBIA<\/strong> – The Cooperative Ministry is seeking volunteers for the 2026 Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA)<\/strong> program, which provides free tax preparation services to individuals and families with low-to-moderate incomes.<\/p>\n

Since 2010, The Cooperative Ministry’s VITA program has prepared more than 70,000 tax returns<\/strong>, returning over $88 million in refunds<\/strong> to Midlands residents. Last year, 91 volunteers<\/strong> contributed more than 3,100 hours<\/strong> of service, valued at over $83,000<\/strong> in-kind.<\/p>\n

The ministry is looking for 40 volunteers<\/strong> to serve during the upcoming tax season. A commitment of three to four hours per week<\/strong> is preferred, and no prior tax experience is required<\/strong>. Training is provided, and several volunteer roles are available — including opportunities that don’t involve tax preparation.<\/p>\n

There are 10 VITA site locations<\/strong> across the Columbia area with flexible scheduling options, including weekdays, evenings, and weekends.<\/p>\n

Those interested in volunteering can contact The Cooperative Ministry at VITA@coopmin.org<\/a><\/strong> or visit www.coopmin.org\/vita<\/a><\/strong> for more information.<\/p>\n

\n

How You Can Help<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Volunteer:<\/strong>
– No tax experience required — free training provided
– Commit just 3–4 hours per week during tax season<\/p>\n

When & Where:<\/strong>
– January through April 2026
– 10 VITA sites across the Columbia area<\/p>\n

Why Volunteer:<\/strong>
– Help local families access vital tax refunds and credits
– Gain valuable experience and make a real community impact<\/p>\n

Get Involved:<\/strong>
Email:<\/strong> VITA@coopmin.org<\/a>
Website:<\/strong> www.coopmin.org\/vita<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

COLUMBIA – The Cooperative Ministry is seeking volunteers for the 2026 Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, which provides free tax preparation services to individuals and families with low-to-moderate incomes. Since 2010, The Cooperative Ministry’s VITA program has prepared more than 70,000 tax returns, returning over $88 million in refundsContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7763,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[31],"tags":[1173],"class_list":["entry","author-john-griggs","post-7762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-community-news","tag-tax-preparation"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gpstrianglenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Taxes_2022_630x350.jpg?fit=630%2C350&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpstrianglenews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}