During 2015, IRS low-income tax clinics helped taxpayers secure more than $4.3 million in tax refunds and eliminate more than $64 million in tax liabilities, penalties and interest, according to the latest report from the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic Program Office.
LITCs represented 18,751 taxpayers in disputes with the IRS in that year, and provided consultation or advice to an additional 18,810 taxpayers, the report added. Through outreach and education activities, LITCs also helped individuals who speak English as a second language understand their rights as U.S. taxpayers.
The IRS’s LITC Program Office has also posted on IRS.gov the 2017 update of Publication 4134, which contains the names and contact information for the 2017 LITC grant recipients that can provide representation and education to low-income taxpayers and taxpayers who speak English as a second language. It also lists the languages each LITC serves in addition to English.
The IRS awards matching grants of up to $100,000 per year to qualifying organizations to develop, expand or maintain an LITC. The grant program is administered by the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate at the IRS, which is led by National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson. LITC employees and volunteers operate independently from the IRS.
Jeff Stimpson is a veteran freelance journalist who previously served as editor of The Practical Accountant.