Applications wanted for Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic grants

The application period for the IRS’s Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic grants for calendar 2018 will run now through June 20.

The LITC program, administered by the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate at the IRS, awards matching grants of up to $100,000 per year to qualifying organizations to develop, expand or maintain an LITC.

An LITC must provide services for free or for no more than a nominal fee and is for taxpayers who have low income or speak English as a second language. LITCs provide pro bono representation on their behalf in tax disputes with the IRS, educate taxpayers about their rights and responsibilities, and identify and advocate for issues that impact low-income taxpayers.

The clinics, their employees and their volunteers operate independently from the IRS. Examples of qualifying organizations include clinical programs at accredited law, business or accounting schools whose students represent low-income taxpayers in tax disputes with the IRS, and organizations exempt from tax under Sec. 501(a) whose employees and volunteers represent low income taxpayers in tax disputes with the IRS.

IRS goals for the grant program include ensuring that each state plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico is served by at least one clinic; expanding coverage in areas identified as underserved; and ensuring that grant recipients demonstrate they are serving geographic areas that have sizable populations eligible for and requiring LITC services.

Copies of the 2018 Grant Application Package and Guidelines can be downloaded from IRS.gov or ordered at (800) 829-3676.

Sign in front of IRS building in Washington, D.C.
The IRS building in Washington, D.C.

The IRS is authorized to award a multi-year grant not to exceed three years. For an organization not currently receiving a grant for 2017, one that received a single-year grant for 2017, or one whose multi-year grant ends in 2017, they must submit the application electronically at www.grants.gov.

An organization currently receiving a grant for 2017 that wants to request funding for the second or third year of a multi-year grant must submit the funding request electronically at www.grants.gov/)

All organizations must use the funding number of TREAS-GRANTS-052018-001, and applications and funding requests must be submitted by June 20.

Questions about the LITC program or grant application process can be addressed to the LITC Program Office at (202) 317-4700 or by e-mail at LITCProgramOffice@irs.gov.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
Tax preparation Tax preparers IRS
MORE FROM ACCOUNTING TODAY