IR-2020-43: Low income taxpayer clinics represented 19,513 taxpayers dealing with an IRS tax controversy; see the latest program report and the 2020 LITC grant recipient list

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) sent this bulletin at 02/26/2020 11:05 AM EST

IRS Newswire

February 26, 2020

Issue Number: IR-2020-43

Inside This Issue

Low income taxpayer clinics represented 19,513 taxpayers dealing with an IRS tax controversy; see the latest program report and the 2020 LITC grant recipient list

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service’s Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) Program Office has issued its annual program report. The report describes how LITCs provide representation, education, and advocacy for taxpayers who are low income or speak English as a second language (ESL).

The LITC Program is a federal grant program administered by the Taxpayer Advocate Service, led by the Acting National Taxpayer Advocate, Bridget Roberts. LITCs represent individuals whose incomes are below a certain level and need to resolve tax problems with the IRS, such as audits, appeals, and tax collection disputes. They can represent taxpayers in court as well as within the IRS. They also can provide information about taxpayer rights and responsibilities in different languages for ESL taxpayers. LITCs provide services for free or a small fee. They receive IRS grants but work independently to assist and advocate for taxpayers.

During 2018, LITCs represented 19,513 taxpayers dealing with an IRS tax controversy. They helped taxpayers secure more than $4.7 million in tax refunds and reduced taxpayers’ liabilities by nearly $124 million. They also brought more than 4,200 taxpayers back into payment compliance.

Through outreach and education activities, LITCs strived to ensure individuals understood their rights as U.S. taxpayers by conducting more than 1,700 educational activities that were attended by over 16,600 persons. More than 1,800 volunteers contributed to the success of LITCs by contributing nearly 57,000 hours of their time. More than two-thirds of the volunteers were attorneys, certified public accountants, or enrolled agents.

LITCs used a variety of approaches to successfully advocate for taxpayers. These included utilizing collection alternatives to resolve issues administratively within the IRS litigating cases in the United States Tax Court and other federal courts, and elevating systemic issues through the Taxpayer Advocate Service’s Systemic Advocacy Management System. Below is just one example of how an LITC assisted taxpayers in need:

The taxpayers were a senior couple with no children. The husband had served in the military and was disabled during combat operations. He had a construction business, and together he and his wife invested large amounts of time and money into renovating their home into a bed and breakfast. After years of financial setbacks, the couple lost their home and long-time business, and incurred a large outstanding federal tax debt. The taxpayers filed for bankruptcy protection.

At that time, they were living on a fixed income of Social Security and a small Veterans Administration pension in a subsidized senior apartment that they were told they could not live in if they had more than $10,000 in tax debt. The couple came to an LITC after they began receiving certified mail notices from the IRS about the federal tax debt. The LITC called the IRS to request a 60-day hold on collection while the taxpayers gathered documents for an Offer-In-Compromise (OIC). The couple then received a notice of intent to levy their Social Security benefits, and the LITC requested a Collection Due Process hearing, where it helped the couple settle its entire federal tax debt with an OIC for $1. The taxpayers returned a customer satisfaction survey to the LITC and acknowledged the work of the staff attorney by saying, “Wonderful you have such a smart, kind, and caring man on your staff. Thank you so much for everything.”

The full report contains extensive details about the LITC Program and more extraordinary stories about the representation that LITCs provide. It also details the results that LITCs achieved on behalf of their clients.

2020 Grant Recipient List
Through the LITC Program, the IRS awards matching grants of up to $100,000 per year to qualifying organizations. The Internal Revenue Service today announced $11.6 million in matching grants to 131 recipients across the country for development, expansion or continuation of LITCs for the 2020 grant year. IRS Publication 4134, Low Income Taxpayer Clinic List (PDF), provides information about LITCs by geographic area, including contact information and details about the languages, in addition to English, in which each LITC offers services. Publication 4134 is available at IRS.gov.

The grant year began on Jan. 1 and ends on Dec. 31. The following is a list of the 131 organizations awarded a grant for the 2020 grant year:

2020 LOW INCOME TAXPAYER CLINICS

Name of Organization	City	State	Award Amount
Alaska Business Development Center LITC	Anchorage	AK	$76,000
Legal Services Alabama LITC	Montgomery	AL	$100,000
UA Little Rock Bowen School of Law LITC	Little Rock	AR	$100,000
Legal Aid of Arkansas LITC	Springdale	AR	$64,000
Community Legal Services LITC	Phoenix	AZ	$95,000
Southern Arizona Tax Clinic	Tucson	AZ	$85,919
Bet Tzedek Legal Services Tax Clinic	Los Angeles	CA	$100,000
KYCC Low Income Taxpayer Clinic	Los Angeles	CA	$100,000
Pepperdine LITC	Los Angeles	CA	$85,000
Bookstein Low Income Tax Clinic	Los Angeles	CA	$95,000
Chapman University Tax Law Clinic	Orange	CA	$100,000
Inland Counties Legal Services LITC	Riverside	CA	$90,000
Legal Aid Society of San Diego LITC	San Diego	CA	$100,000
University of San Diego LITC	San Diego	CA	$100,000
Chinese Newcomers Service Center	San Francisco	CA	$97,966
Justice and Diversity Center of the Bar Association of San Francisco	San Francisco	CA	$100,000
UC Hastings Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic	San Francisco	CA	$90,000
Cal Poly Low Income Taxpayer Clinic	San Luis Obispo	CA	$100,000
Community Legal Aid So Cal LITC	Santa Ana	CA	$60,000
Colorado Legal Services LITC	Denver	CO	$57,955
Denver Asset Building Coalition LITC	Denver	CO	$50,000
University of Denver LITC	Denver	CO	$100,000
Quinnipiac University School of Law LITC	Hamden	CT	$100,000
UConn Law School Tax Clinic	Hartford	CT	$95,000
The Catholic University of America LITC	Washington	DC	$100,000
The Janet R. Spragens Federal Tax Clinic	Washington	DC	$100,000
Delaware Community Reinvestment Action Council LITC	Wilmington	DE	$100,000
Florida Rural Legal Services Low Income Taxpayer Clinic	Ft. Meyers	FL	$85,000
Three Rivers Legal Services, Inc.	Gainesville	FL	$65,000
Legal Services of Greater Miami Community Tax Clinic	Miami	FL	$100,000
Bay Area Legal Services, Inc. LITC	Plant City	FL	$90,000
Legal Aid Services of Broward and Collier Counties	Plantation	FL	$100,000
Gulfcoast Legal Services LITC	St. Petersburg	FL	$100,000
Legal Services of North Florida	Tallahassee	FL	$100,000
Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County LITC	West Palm Beach	FL	$90,000
The Philip C. Cook Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic	Atlanta	GA	$100,000
JCvision and Associates, Inc.	Hinesville	GA	$75,800
North Georgia Low Income Taxpayer Clinic	Lawrenceville	GA	$65,000
Iowa Legal Aid LITC	Des Moines	IA	$100,000
University of Idaho College of Law LITC	Boise	ID	$99,000
La Posada Tax Clinic	Twin Falls	ID	$100,000
Ladder Up Tax Clinic	Chicago	IL	$100,000
Loyola Federal Income Tax Clinic	Chicago	IL	$100,000
Administer Justice	Elgin	IL	$100,000
Prairie State Legal Services LITC	Wheaton	IL	$100,000
Indiana Legal Services LITC	Bloomington	IN	$100,000
Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic	Indianapolis	IN	$100,000
Notre Dame Tax Clinic	South Bend	IN	$95,000
Kansas Legal Services, Inc. LITC	Kansas City	KS	$49,000
The Center for Great Neighborhoods LITC	Covington	KY	$100,000
Legal Aid Society Low Income Taxpayer Clinic	Louisville	KY	$62,800
AppalRed Low Income Taxpayer Clinic	Richmond	KY	$90,000
Southeast Louisiana Legal Services LITC	New Orleans	LA	$100,000
Greater Boston Legal Services	Boston	MA	$95,000
Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School LITC	Jamaica Plain	MA	$100,000
Springfield Partners for Community Action LITC	Springfield	MA	$50,000
Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service LITC	Baltimore	MD	$100,000
University of Baltimore LITC	Baltimore	MD	$100,000
University of Maryland Carey School of Law LITC	Baltimore	MD	$74,000
Pine Tree Legal Assistance, Inc. LITC	Bangor	ME	$100,000
University of Michigan LITC	Ann Arbor	MI	$95,000
Accounting Aid Society	Detroit	MI	$100,000
Alvin L. Storrs Low Income Taxpayer Clinic	East Lansing	MI	$100,000
West Michigan Low Income Taxpayer Clinic	Grand Rapids	MI	$84,000
Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid Tax Law Project	Minneapolis	MN	$88,000
University of Minnesota LITC	Minneapolis	MN	$100,000
Kansas City Tax Clinic	Kansas City	MO	$76,000
Legal Aid of Western Missouri LITC	Kansas City	MO	$100,000
Washington University School of Law LITC	St. Louis	MO	$96,000
Mississippi Taxpayer Assistance Project	Oxford	MS	$81,500
Montana Legal Services Association LITC	Helena	MT	$26,000
North Carolina Low Income Taxpayer Clinic	Charlotte	NC	$100,000
NC Central University School of Law LITC	Durham	NC	$100,000
Legal Aid of Nebraska LITC	Lincoln	NE	$50,625
NH Pro Bono Low-Income Taxpayer Project	Concord	NH	$85,000
South Jersey Legal Services, Inc. LITC	Camden	NJ	$70,000
Legal Services of New Jersey Tax Legal Assistance Project	Edison	NJ	$100,000
Northeast New Jersey Legal Services LITC	Jersey City	NJ	$100,000
Rutgers Federal Tax Clinic	Newark	NJ	$95,000
NMLA Low Income Taxpayer Clinic	Albuquerque	NM	$100,000
Four Corners Low Income Taxpayer Clinic	Farmington	NM	$94,000
Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York LITC	Albany	NY	$90,000
Bronx Legal Services	Bronx	NY	$80,000
Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A LITC	Brooklyn	NY	$95,000
Brooklyn Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic	Brooklyn	NY	$100,000
Erie County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project LITC	Buffalo	NY	$90,000
Hofstra Low Income Taxpayer Clinic	Hempstead	NY	$21,000
Queens Legal Services LITC	Jamaica	NY	$90,000
Fordham Law School	New York	NY	$95,000
Mobilization for Justice	New York	NY	$80,000
The Legal Aid Society LITC	New York	NY	$100,000
Migration Resources Center LITC	Staten Island	NY	$50,000
Syracuse University College of Law LITC	Syracuse	NY	$100,000
Community Legal Aid Services LITC	Akron	OH	$80,000
Legal Aid of Greater Cincinnati LITC	CINCINNATI	OH	$85,000
The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland LITC	Cleveland	OH	$95,000
Southeastern Ohio Legal Services for the public	Columbus	OH	$90,000
The Legal Aid Society of Columbus LITC	Columbus	OH	$100,000
Legal Aid of Western Ohio LITC	Toledo	OH	$65,000
Toledo Tax Controversy Clinic LITC	Toledo	OH	$41,351
Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma LITC	Oklahoma City	OK	$63,000
El Programa Hispano Catolico's LITC	Gresham	OR	$90,000
Legal Aid Services of Oregon LITC	Portland	OR	$90,000
Lewis & Clark Low Income Taxpayer Clinic	Portland	OR	$100,000
Philadelphia Legal Assistance LITC	Philadelphia	PA	$100,000
University of Pittsburgh School of Law LITC	Pittsburgh	PA	$85,000
Villanova Federal Tax Clinic	Villanova	PA	$100,000
Southwestern Pennsylvania Legal Services LITC	Washington	PA	$60,000
MidPenn Legal Services Low Income Taxpayer Clinic	York	PA	$70,000
Rhode Island Legal Services LITC	Providence	RI	$100,000
South Carolina Legal Services LITC	Greenville	SC	$95,000
University of South Dakota School of Law Federal tax Clinic	Vermillion	SD	$90,000
Memphis Area Legal Services	Memphis	TN	$100,000
Tennessee Taxpayer Project	Oak Ridge	TN	$100,000
Legal Aid of Northwest Texas LITC	Fort Worth	TX	$100,000
Texas A&M University School of Law Tax Clinic	Fort Worth	TX	$85,000
Houston Volunteer Lawyers LITC	Houston	TX	$85,000
Lone Star Legal Aid	Houston	TX	$100,000
South Texas College of Law LITC	Houston	TX	$99,957
Texas Tech School of Law LITC	Lubbock	TX	$100,000
Texas Taxpayer Assistance Project	San Antonio	TX	$100,000
Centro Hispano LITC	Provo	UT	$100,000
Legal Services of Northern Virginia LITC	Fairfax	VA	$100,000
Washington and Lee University School of Law Tax Clinic	Lexington	VA	$80,000
The Community Tax Law Project	Richmond	VA	$100,000
Vermont Low Income Taxpayer Clinic	Burlington	VT	$75,000
University of Washington Federal Tax Clinic	Seattle	WA	$100,000
Gonzaga University Federal Tax Clinic	Spokane	WA	$95,000
Legal Action of Wisconsin LITC	Milwaukee	WI	$100,000
The Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, Inc.	Milwaukee	WI	$75,361
Northwoods Tax Project	Wausau	WI	$84,000

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IR-2020-43: Low income taxpayer clinics represented 19,513 taxpayers dealing with an IRS tax controversy; see the latest program report and the 2020 LITC grant recipient list

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Issue Number: IR-2020-43

Inside This Issue