Aggie Law Announces New Tax Clinic

FORT WORTH, Texas, Sept. 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Thanks in part to a grant from the Internal Revenue Service, Texas A&M University School of Law will soon open the doors of its newest clinic, focused on serving low income taxpayers.

The grant is part of the Low Income Taxpayer Clinics (LITC) program, administered by the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate at the IRS to make the services of these clinics more widely available, particularly in underserved areas.

Under the interim direction of Jack Manhire, Director of Program Development and Senior Lecturer at Aggie Law, the Tax Clinic will provide legal counsel as defined by the LITC program criteria. Services will focus primarily on tax disputes and are available to those who qualify as low income taxpayers. The clinic also gives Texas A&M law students an opportunity to work directly on federal tax controversy cases by receiving provisional admission to represent taxpayers before the IRS.

The law school is currently seeking qualified professionals to permanently fill the leadership positions at the clinic, which will be one of nine clinics offered through the law school.

"We are very excited to be a part of the LITC community," Manhire said. "We are fully dedicated to serving the needs of the Fort Worth area and the educational enrichment of our students. We also plan to leverage cutting-edge technology and our Aggie network to represent taxpayers in some of the most underserved communities in Texas."

According to the Taxpayer Advocate Service, "Low Income Taxpayer Clinics (LITC) assist low income individuals who have a tax dispute with the IRS, and provide education and outreach to individuals who speak English as a second language (ESL). LITCs can represent you before the IRS or in court on audits, appeals, tax collection matters, and other tax disputes. Services are provided for free or for a small fee. Although LITCs receive partial funding from the IRS, LITCs, their employees, and their volunteers are completely independent of the IRS. In order to qualify for assistance from an LITC, generally a taxpayer's income must be below a certain threshold, and the amount in dispute with the IRS is usually less than $50,000."

The clinic, Aggie Law's ninth, will be located in the Star-Telegram building in Downtown Fort Worth.

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SOURCE Texas A&M University School of Law

Related Links

http://law.tamu.edu