Tax Justice Warriors: Recent Episodes
William Schmidt
A podcast that focuses on tax controversy, Low Income Taxpayer Clincs (LITCs), educating the public, news and interviews about taxes.
I sat down here in recently with Jessica Rosenthal, one of my clinic students for the fall 2025 semester.
I sat down here in recently with Tyler Lawson, one of my clinic students for the fall 2025 semester.
I sat down here in the spring of 2025 with one of my clinic students from that semester: Blayne Cekine.
I sat down with Inland Counties Legal Services LITC attorney Jennifer Schinke at the ABA Tax Section Midyear Meeting in Los Angeles, California in February 2025.
I sat down with Legal Services Alabama Low Income Taxpayer Clinic Staff Attorney Maceo Kirkland, from Montgomery, Alabama, at the ABA Section of Taxation Midyear Meeting in Los Angeles, California in February 2025.
I sat down with President and CEO of Campaign of Woking Families, Dr. Nikia Owens, at the Annual LITC Conference in Alexandria, VA in December 2024. For more information on the Campaign for Working Families, you can visit their website.
In this episode, I discuss how tax plans, proposed by Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in this 2024 election campaign, would affect low-income taxpayers. Thank you to my student, Maddie Feeney for her research for this episode!
I sat down here with Howard University School of Law Professor Alice M. Thomas. The interview was conducted at the ABA Section of Taxation May 2024 meeting in Washington, D.C.
I sat down here in February 2024 with Randy Goldson, a Temple Law student who took my Low Income Taxpayer Clinic class in fall 2023.
I sat down here in December 2023 with Hyo Jin Lee, a Temple Law student who took my Low Income Taxpayer Clinic class in fall 2023.
I sat down here with my LITC colleague Mary Ann David, Senior Attorney at Legal Services of Greater Miami. We spoke at the ABA Tax Section Midyear Meeting in San Francisco in January 2024.
I sat down here with Legal Aid of San Diego Senior Staff Attorney, a fellow LITC practitioner, at the annual LITC conference in Washington, D.C. in December 2023.
Here is more information on the Gregory Evans Knoll Legacy Fund that Shahin mentioned.
As part of a series of interviews with colleagues in low Income taxpayer clinics from across the country and students in our clinic at Temple Law, I interviewed Cal Poly Low Income Taxpayer Clinic Director and Professor Lisa Sperow. I had the chance to sit down with Lisa at the annual Low Income Taxpayer Clinics Conference in Washington, D.C. in December 2023.
As part of a series of interviews with colleagues in Low Income Taxpayer Clinics from across the country and students in our clinic at Temple Law, I interviewed Syracuse Law tax clinic director and Professor Rob Nassau. I had the chance to sit down with Rob at the annual Low Income Taxpayer Clinics Conference in Washington, D.C. in December 2023.
In this episode, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I give thanks to so many people who support me and make my job easier.
This episode is a reflection on one year of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the impact President Biden's signature domestic legislative achievement has had on taxpayers and tax practitioners.
I discuss in the episode a major professional development: I am now a Professor of Practice and Director of the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic at Temple University Beasley School of Law! After five wonderful years at Philadelphia Legal Assistance Taxpayer Support Clinic, I am now pursuing this exciting opportunity. I am eager to represent clients across Pennsylvania, to supervise law students, and to teach tax law and IRS procedure.
This episode is a discussion of how workers can challenge their misclassification as independent contractors through the IRS SS-8 process.
I discuss best practices for how practitioners can identify, address, and remedy misclassification on behalf of clients. I discuss the IRS procedures, including the accurate reporting of misclassification income as wages on tax returns, that individuals should know.
Here are some important resources on worker misclassification:
Philadelphia Legal Assistance page on misclassification
Center for Urban Pedagogy-designed poster that I worked on regarding misclassification
U.S. Department of Labor page on misclassification
Presentation on misclassification that I did with attorney Rebecca Stavish
IRS instructions on Form SS-8
My most recent Procedurally Taxing blog post on 26 U.S.C. 7434 (discussed in episode)
In this episode, I discussed what I learned at the ABA Tax Section May 2023 Meeting in Washington, D.C. I mentioned several important sessions I attended and how I had the chance to ask IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel a question during his closing plenary remarks.
This episode also includes interviews I conducted, at the conference, with two great colleagues and mentors, Leslie Book and Mandi Matlock. They both generously agreed to sit down with me on the final day of the conference to discuss their careers and their perspectives.
At Villanova Law, Professor Les Book, a nationally recognized scholar on tax procedure and coauthor of the Procedurally Taxing blog, teaches several tax courses and has experience in numerous roles there that include Director of the Federal Tax Clinic. I had the privilege of having Professor Book as my professor of Introduction to Federal Income Tax in my 3L spring semester at Villanova. Since then, he has helped me get to where I am today, including in receiving the ABA Tax Section Brunswick Public Service Fellowship.
Professor Mandi Matlock, who recently served as Interim Director of the Federal Tax Clinic at the Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School, has worked as a low income taxpayer clinic attorney at Texas RioGrande Legal Aid for over two decades. In the meantime, she became a nationally renowned expert on tax and consumer law matters as she was of counsel to the National Consumer Law Center and was a Local Taxpayer Advocate in Austin, among other roles.
In this episode, I break down the 2023 tax filing season as I offer reflections on how the $80 billion in additional funding for the IRS, from the Inflation Reduction Act, appears to have notably improved service for taxpayers and tax practitioners.
I also delve into the history of the fedreal refund statute of limitations as it is an issue that became salient when the IRS announced that July 17, 2023 is the refund deadline for unfiled 2019 returns. I briefly also discuss the new IRS strategic operating plan (regarding how the IRS will use their new funding); you can read the plan here.
At the Annual Low Income Taxpayer Clinics Conference in Phoenix in December 2022, I had the privilege of sitting down with Professor Keith Fogg, a mentor and colleague. Keith practiced at the IRS Office of Chief Counsel for over 30 years before he began an academic career in 2007 first running the Villanova Law Federal Tax Clinic and then running the Harvard Law Federal Tax Clinic from 2015 until his retirement in 2022.
Additionally, Keith cofounded the Procedurally Taxing blog (for which I have written several articles) that he still helps run and his name is often associated with the American Bar Association Tax Section's Effectively Representing Your Client Before the IRS ("The Fogg Manual"), as he has edited the manual's 5th, 6th, and 7th editions (I had the privilege of authoring the worker classification chapter for the 8th edition).
At the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Taxation Midyear Meeting in San Diego on February 10, 2023, I sat down with former National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson and ABA Christine A. Brunswick Fellow Anna Gooch to discuss their work at the Center for Taxpayer Rights: https://taxpayer-rights.org/
For more information on the Brunswick Fellowship, visit here: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/taxation/awards/psfellowship/
Omeed sits down here with National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins at the 2023 Annual Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) Grantee Conference in Phoenix, Arizona on December 8, 2022. Collins spoke about the difficulties taxpayers and tax practitioners faced with the IRS in 2022.
She also discussed how her office is working to address these problems. Since this interview was conducted, the LITC maximum grant, which was discussed here, has been temporarily increased from $100,000 to $200,000 per year, as described here on page 3 of the Low Income Taxpayer Clinics 2022 Program Report: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p5066.pdf
Read the National Taxpayer Advocate 2022 Annual Report to Congress here: https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/reports/2022-annual-report-to-congress/
From William Schmidt-
I am going from being a Clinic Director for Low Income Taxpayer Clinics to working for the Kansas City branch of the IRS Office of Chief Counsel (Small Business/Self-Employed) as a Tax Attorney. Today’s episode is a short one as I make my farewells.
In September, I finished working for the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic and legal aid worlds, where I worked for 6.5 years. I worked for over 5 years for Kansas Legal Services and almost 1.5 years for Legal Aid of Western Missouri. I am going to miss working with others that advocate for those who truly need it.
Both Kansas Legal Services and Legal Aid of Western Missouri are wonderful organizations that provide legal help to people in need. Through those organizations, I was able to provide tax, bankruptcy, consumer protection and other kinds of assistance through the years to low income taxpayers and other people in need.
The Low Income Taxpayer Clinic community is a group that I will miss greatly. Gatherings from the local to the national level brought friendly, helpful people willing to talk tax and assist newcomers. I made several friends through the LITC, the ABA and in the IRS that were trying to connect taxpayers with the right assistance.
I hope all of those organizations continue strong and you lend them support (if you're able) to bring help for those who need it.
I believe my 6.5 years within the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic world, writing regularly for Procedurally Taxing, podcasting for 180 episodes, presenting at conferences, teaching as an adjunct professor and more have led me to taking on this new experience. I look forward to working with others I know within the IRS and learning about IRS systems - I think this will be an interesting adventure!
The future of this podcast is a bit up in the air. I have asked a couple people to take over, but in the meantime it will be going on hiatus.
Best wishes to you and thank you for listening!
If you have been following news from the Inflation Reduction Act, you probably heard news that the IRS received nearly $80 billion in funding over the next decade. There have been reactions of all kinds. In this episode, I look at how the funding is divided among the departments at the IRS. Some of the goals are examinations of high-income individuals, building back the staff from retirement and other departures, and modernizing the IRS computer systems. From there, I debunk some of the rumors regarding the IRS such as how they are building an army or arming their employees. The bottom line is that the IRS will follow the law and the rumors are false.
The Fear Over IRS Funding (procedurallytaxing.com)
Republican IRS fearmongering in Florida is getting scary (nbcnews.com)
Opinion | Inside the IRS ‘Pipeline’ used to process tax returns - Washington Post
On this episode, an update on what is going on in Kansas City relating to tax issues. Also, a talk about the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and its funding of the IRS.
At the time of recording, the Act had passed the Senate. At the time of posting, it has also passed the House and is expected to go to President Biden to sign into law in the next week.
A short episode about balancing my workload between supervision and managing the tax clinic. In order to balance the workload, it is necessary to reduce the number of cases and I talk about what I am doing to get there.
On May 12 through 14, 2022, the American Bar Association Section of Taxation held the 2022 May Tax Meeting. It was a hybrid meeting, the first in-person meeting for the Section since 2020. Portions of the meeting were also broadcast virtually.
There was a large group gathered and it seemed that people were happy to be meeting in person again. William Schmidt attended the meeting and went to several of the committee presentations. This episode provides a recap of the events, including the panels that caused audience reactions, some Tax Court judges who attended, and a tip about getting food at a reception.
William was also on a Tax Court Practice and Procedure panel on Collection Due Process cases in the U.S. Tax Court and he provides an update on how that went.
This episode has a whole variety of topics:
- The offer in compromise forms are now updated – what about the grace period to transition to sending the new forms to the IRS? How many years of tax returns need to be submitted for the taxpayer to be compliant?
- The local standards for 2022 have been released. These are to be used for offers in compromise and to submit for a client to be in currently not collectible status. What else? See below.
- Talking about low-income taxpayers dealing with stock reporting and tax audits.
- How to mark a duplicate tax return sent to the IRS?
- Talking about expenses and income reporting on an innocent spouse request submission.
- A reminder that the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic grant application or Non-Competing Continuation deadlines are coming up!
- Last, this will be Andrew Belter’s final episode as he makes a career change!
Tune in to find out what William Schmidt and Andrew Belter have to say about those topics.
The Boechler case before the Supreme Court was previously discussed in episode 173. In the case, the question before the Supreme Court was whether the Tax Court correctly treated the deadline in this collection due process case as jurisdictional. Spoiler – the Supreme Court did decide in the taxpayer’s favor that the deadline was not jurisdictional and that equitable tolling could apply. The case has been remanded for a decision on whether equitable tolling does apply to the facts in the case.
William Schmidt and Andrew Belter discuss the Boechler decision regarding potential change for future collection due process cases. This could be a big change, but the facts need to be right.
Also, William is going to the ABA May Tax Meeting in Washington, D.C. that takes place May 12-14. On the 13th, he will be in the Court Procedure & Practice panel, “Update on Collection Due Process Cases in U.S. Tax Court and Related Issues” from 4:15 to 5:45 Eastern. The panel will discuss Boechler and other collection due process issues affecting the Tax Court. If you are there in person, say hi. If not, the meeting is also in a hybrid format so should be available virtually for some time after.
Welcome to a further discussion from William Schmidt (Legal Aid of Western Missouri) and Andrew Belter (Wisconsin JudiCare) on issues when calling the Practitioner Priority Service. This time, there are issues when representing a client who is listed as the secondary person on the tax return. Some of are clients are widows or divorced. Recently, the IRS has been given difficulty or wanted a power of attorney form for the decedent's estate signed by the widowed spouse in order to do anything on the account. That makes it difficult to ask for transcripts or get the account into currently not collectible status. Next, there are difficulties when transcripts are unavailable from the IRS but the representative does have access to the account. How to proceed? Also, when the clinic is contacted about criminal tax issues, what next? Since the LITC program does not focus on criminal tax, it is good to have a network for referring those cases. These topics and more are discussed in this episode. Thanks for tuning in!
Andrew Belter and William Schmidt talked through the different instances when to sign for clients on submissions to the IRS or the Tax Court. Some forms allow for either a taxpayer or their attorney to sign. However, clients don’t always get the forms to us or keep in contact close to the deadlines. What are some of the ethical considerations with those issues?
Next, they compare notes on the LITC grant report. By now, clinics should have submitted their reports so our hosts talk about their efforts to put their reports together. Spreadsheets or other ways of tracking data like case software are quite useful!
Andrew Belter and William Schmidt discuss some recent topics of concern for Low Income Taxpayer Clinics. For one, Andrew brings up the difficulties with regard to reaching the IRS on the phones to get help for clients. Both Andrew and William talk about their recent attempts to find assistance for clients by calling the IRS. Then, William brings up the LITC grant report. That leads to a discussion of the difficulties in tracking data for the grant report and some tips in order to gather that data in an easier manner.
This week, Andrew Belter and William Schmidt look at some U.S. Tax Court topics.
First, the case Boechler v. Commissioner is before the U.S. Supreme Court where they have heard oral arguments. In brief, an individual was a day late and missed the statutory deadline for a Collection Due Process hearing. The Tax Court ruled that there was a strict jurisdictional deadline. At issue before the Supreme Court is whether that deadline is jurisdictional or if equitable tolling can provide any relief.
Second, there was a discussion on the ABA Section of Taxation's Pro Bono and Tax Clinics Committee listserv regarding Answers from IRS Chief Counsel in Tax Court. For years 1983-2007, the Tax Court did not require answers in S cases. We discuss the pros and cons of Answers, plus suggestions for what could replace them.
Note: the phrase we couldn't remember was financial disability. William covered that topic way back in episode 55. To learn more, you can also look at Internal Revenue Code section 6511(h), Rev. Proc. 99-21 or IRS Publication 556, page 15.
ID.me is a recent platform that the IRS was using as an online identity verification process for taxpayers to access self-help tools. To verify their identity with ID.me, taxpayers needed to provide a photo of an identity document such as a driver's license, state ID or passport. They also needed to take a selfie with a smartphone or a computer with a webcam. Once their identity had been verified, the were able to access IRS online services.
Various people protested to Congress and that reached the IRS. On February 7, 2022, the IRS announced it would transition away from using ID.me and its facial recognition tools to help authenticate people creating new online accounts. The transition was to occur over the following weeks in order to prevent larger disruptions to taxpayers during filing season.
During the transition, the IRS stated they would quickly develop and bring online an additional authentication process that does not involve facial recognition. The IRS stated they would “continue to work with its cross-government partners to develop authentication methods that protect taxpayer data and ensure broad access to online tools.”
On this episode, Andrew Belter and William Schmidt spoke with John Gilmore, Head of Research at Abine/DeleteMe. The conversation started with how ID.me came to be used by the federal government and John’s concerns regarding ID.me, such as whether they are regulated and what they do with their data. We discussed the IRS pivot away from facial recognition and that other state and federal government agencies are still using ID.me. From there, we look at how this impacts low income taxpayers such as the complaints for people of color using facial recognition and how low income taxpayers do not have access to technology.
Well, before we started we didn’t think we had anything to talk about! Andrew Belter (Wisconsin Judicare) and William Schmidt (Legal Aid of Western Missouri) caught up on recent tax news as the tax season is underway. Access to transcripts with the CAF Unit and IRS budget restrictions from Congress are some of the topics.
The main portion of this episode is a discussion of the ABA 2022 Midyear Tax Meeting. It was a virtual conference that took place from January 31 to February 4. Hopefully we provided some insights in our preview of the event. There are discussions that took place on topics such as diversity and ethics. Updates on current events from the National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins, the IRS and the U.S. Tax Court. Discussions of litigation that ranged from the U.S. Tax Court to the U.S. Supreme Court. There are a variety of topics that should interest tax practitioners at American Bar Association Section of Taxation events.
Since the event has already happened, you have not necessarily missed out. For American Bar Association members, the recordings are still available for 90 days after the meeting. It is a bargain for LITC personnel to access the entire conference for $25.
The meeting was quite informative and it is always wonderful to see and speak with other tax professionals, even when it is all online.
Welcome to the tax filing season! Andrew Belter and William Schmidt start with a discussion of reconciling the child tax credit with Letter 6419. From there, we turn to differences between state and federal taxes. For one, can you still find paper copies of your state tax forms at your local public library? Who is faster at processing paper tax returns, the IRS or the state? Does your state perform audits independently of the IRS? Does the state follow IRS decisions regarding innocent spouse? Is there a taxpayer advocate in your state? What does that person do?
Andrew and William talk through these questions based on their state tax experience.
Happy New Year 2022! Andrew Belter and William Schmidt discuss what the year will hold regarding taxes. The individual tax season will begin on January 24 and is expected to last through April 18 this year.
We discuss our outlook on the upcoming tax season and other items for the year. This tax filing season, a difference will be reconciliation of the recovery rebate credit for the 3rd stimulus payment and reconciling the advance child tax credit. One suggestion I have heard is to make an appointment with your local Taxpayer Assistance Center if the amounts received by the taxpayer and the notice letter from the IRS do not match up.
Beyond that, what are our personal goals for our clinics and related items on our jobs? We discuss deadlines, outreach, interviews for the podcast, and keeping a work balance without adding too much the workload.
Andrew Belter and William Schmidt do an end of year discussion. They talk about the LITC conference and how the year has been working with the IRS. Along with that, they discuss how the year went – moving from one LITC to another for each of them and some self-reflection on how outreach progressed during the year.
On this episode, Andrew Belter and William Schmidt discuss issues that the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) is having in 2021. Due to the IRS being backed up, taxpayers are contacting TAS for assistance. While TAS normally provides assistance to taxpayers, the IRS and TAS are being contacted by taxpayers in record numbers. As a result, TAS is difficult to reach and that means limited assistance for Low Income Taxpayer Assistance (LITCs).
Note: It was not mentioned in the episode, but we heard from the National Taxpayer Advocate at a later point on guidance for LITCs. If there are issues in contacting TAS, the LITCs need to reach out to their Local Taxpayer Advocate (LTA). The LITCs need to build close working relationships with their LTAs during these difficult times. Contact your LTA especially if a form 911 has been submitted and you have not heard anything – send it directly to the LTA if you are able!
Also, Andrew and William talk through some networking tips and help if you are dealing with stress during the holidays.
On this episode, Andrew Belter and William Schmidt review offers in compromise – what are some of the basics in making an offer and what are the types of offers? There is also a discussion of offset bypass refunds – working with the Taxpayer Advocate Service to try and get a refund for a client who owes a past-due government debt.
Next, we turn to the look at a recent National Taxpayer Advocate blog post and discuss the changes the IRS recently brought to offers in compromise (OICs) and the offset bypass refund (OBR).
Two recent changes noted in the blog post:
- Not applying the current year refunds to the agreed-upon tax liability
- For hardship situations, the OBR remedy is now available during the pendency of an OIC
Andrew and William discuss how those changes provide assistance for low income taxpayers.
NTA Blog: IRS Initiates New Favorable Offer In Compromise Policies - Taxpayer Advocate Service
The IRS uses Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to quickly get information to the public regarding hot topics concerning taxes. Most recently, the IRS has been using FAQs regarding stimulus payments and the advance child tax credit. The IRS has been getting the word out about these topics to assist taxpayers to receive payments they are entitled to receive.
The public treats different IRS communications like FAQs as if they are reliable, but the IRS stance is that the FAQs cannot be relied upon in a court of law. The FAQs might also change and disappear from the IRS website. This creates a difficulty for any taxpayer relying upon IRS FAQs.
Most recently, the IRS has changed their stance regarding FAQs that any taxpayer relying upon those FAQs now has a stronger defense against penalties.
For a discussion of this change and updates regarding the LITC 2021 Bootcamp, tune in to hear the talk between William Schmidt and Andrew Belter.
Happy Halloween! No tricks this time, just a treat.
This time we have a discussion of the filing status on tax returns. William Schmidt asks Andrew Belter – what is the need for listing whether you are married or single on the tax return? When the tax return started, traditional values supported marriage incentives. Now, there have been changes in society with marriages leading to separated or divorced spouses, non-traditional families, same-sex marriages and more. Is it worth having to prove marital status when there are audits by the IRS?
In the discussion, there are mentions of the marriage penalty, differences between state and federal tax filing, inequity between what is allowed for joint and married filing separate filers, and community state tax filing. What changes would need to be made? What about child-related tax benefits?
Also, there is a brief discussion of cryptocurrency.
Note: we forgot to bring up phasing out innocent spouse and injured spouse issues and filing.
Andrew Belter and William Schmidt discuss their experiences with withdrawing from cases in the U.S. Tax Court. Since it is necessary to receive court approval for an attorney to withdraw from a case, both of your hosts provide guidance on how to navigate what is required to be withdraw from a case when your client is no longer cooperating with you.
If all goes right, you should be able to find some sample forms for those withdrawals along with this episode. If not, contact William on LinkedIn.
Plus, Andrew talks about providing CLE information to LITCs to help them meet their match goals.
Last episode, William Schmidt talked on his own and gave the setup for the current episode. Now, he is joined by Andrew Belter to break down the Tax Court’s virtual visit to Kansas City and the 2021 American Bar Association Tax Section Virtual Fall Tax Meeting.
In Kansas City’s virtual Tax Court, learn more about the extra guests that appeared during the calendar call and the interesting cases where the Low Income Taxpayer Clinics gave advice to unrepresented taxpayers.
For the 2021 American Bar Association Tax Section Virtual Fall Tax Meeting, learn more about the Diversity Committee panel on tax preparer fraud, news from the Tax Court, the Individual and Family Taxation Committee’s look at the current state of the IRS, and more.
This episode is providing a quick update on some items that William Schmidt is involved with. For starters, there is Tax Court for Kansas City scheduled the week of September 20 and coming the week of January 24. Next, William is involved with the Individual and Family Taxation Committee and gives a preview of their panel. Last, William is on a panel Wednesday, September 22, for the Diversity Committee on “Protecting Vulnerable Taxpayers Against Tax Preparer Fraud.”
Andrew Belter and William Schmidt have a discussion on two items regarding client deadlines in taxes.
-What to do when a client shows up with a short deadline for the IRS or Tax Court? This might put an attorney in a bind regarding the work to do in a short amount of time. Entering an appearance in court is easy for an attorney to do, but requires the judge’s approval to for the attorney to withdraw from the case. In other instances, there may be a scramble to file paperwork to the IRS. What are some considerations necessary to trust the client?
-Also, there is the issue of premature assessments. The U.S. Tax Court is backed up on processing petitions they have received. In the meantime, the IRS has not received notices that those petitions were filed. Their Collections department may then believe there is no petition and incorrectly send out a notice regarding the deficiency. To address this issue, there is an email address to contact and provide your case number in the situation: taxcourt.petitioner.premature.assessment@irs.gov
Here is the recent press release from the Tax Court on premature assessments: 08162021.pdf (ustaxcourt.gov)
Andrew Belter and William Schmidt discuss some items that have been happening at Legal Aid of Western Missouri (LAWMO).
Last year, LAWMO set up a help line for people needing help getting their stimulus/Economic Impact Payments. An article about the help line went viral and LAWMO wound up getting hundreds of applicants. Now, LAWMO has a grant for a stimulus attorney to assist applicants.
Tune in to hear more details!
I wanted to pass on the information that I need to do a format shift for Tax Justice Warriors. I have been thinking it would be good to have a co-host on the show to bring in more conversations on current tax topics. I have enlisted frequent guest Andrew Belter, LITC Program Director at Wisconsin Judicare, to be a co-host so we are going to try and provide you some interesting discussions. This will lead to some longer episodes.
Also, I am keeping busy in my position as Supervising Attorney of the Consumer Protection Unit (which includes the LITC) at Legal Aid of Western Missouri. As a result, it has been tougher for me to find the time to edit podcasts so I am going to switch from a weekly format to twice a month. So, that means longer episodes but less often.
Hopefully, a frequency that works for everyone.
I hope you will tune in and join us!
Andrew Belter - is he guest or co-host or…is he both? Andrew Belter, Clinic Director of the LITC at Wisconsin Judicare joins William Schmidt of the LITC at Legal Aid of Western Missouri to discuss the child tax credit.
What are some of the issues for the child tax credit for divorced or separated parents? Is there a safe harbor for people who should not have received the payments that would keep them from repaying? What should be done for issues where the wrong parent received the payments? These and other items come up on our discussion of the child tax credit. Tune in to learn more!
The IRS is hosting advance child tax credit free tax prep days to assist taxpayers in filing 2020 tax returns in order to be eligible for the child tax credit in 12 select cities.
Turnout was low on June 25 and 26 so I am providing information to boost turnout on July 9 and 10.
For information, go to this website:
https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/advance-child-tax-credit-free-tax-prep-days
To make an appointment at a Taxpayer Assistance Center, call (844) 545-5640.
Locate one of the Taxpayer Assistance Centers by going here: https://www.irs.gov/help/contact-your-local-irs-office
I wanted to let you know about a recent publication from the American Bar Association. It is an essential reference for any tax controversy or Low Income Taxpayer Clinic worker. I was co-author of chapter 5 for this edition, "Securing Information from the IRS by Taxpayers."
Effectively Representing Your Client Before the IRS, 8th Edition Edited by Christine S Speidel and Patrick W Thomas Effectively Representing Your Client Before the IRS is a comprehensive collection of everything a tax professional should know when dealing with the IRS.
https://www.americanbar.org/products/inv/book/404782279/?fbclid=IwAR3poLqI9KQeg_M9-fxvRG7R2NuB2q1NiEObaYU3_NvD7ZLLybf3tk4nCUs
Two big updates from the IRS came out this week:
- The Advance Child Tax Credit Non-Filer Portal is now available
The non-filer portal is now available and further online tools will assist taxpayers to get the advance child tax credit this year. Payments will begin on July 15 and will continue around the 15th of the month until the end of 2021.
- IRS Collections is resuming normal operations
As IRS Collections resumes normal operations, notices will be going out starting June 15 and taxpayers could be subject to liens or levies beginning August 15.
With transitioning between legal aid organizations, this has been a great time for me to clean up the various clients that I am connected with through the CAF Unit at the IRS. Before leaving Kansas Legal Services, I tried to sever ties with various clients by submitting withdrawals to the CAF Unit. Following that, I did a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to find out which clients were still connected to me. In this episode, I discuss more details and learned just how many of the clients I still had connections with over the years. Tune it to find out more!
There are Low Income Taxpayer Clinic practitioners that focus on more than tax issues. They might be required to work on more than one grant project at a legal aid, so have a split such as 50%/50% between projects. Or they might be teaching at a law school on other courses such as remedies and contracts. Do clinicians like the variety or would they prefer to focus on taxes only? Perhaps working in the other areas will enhance the work that the clinician is doing.
Plus, Tax Justice Warriors was included in a list of the 20 Best Tax Podcasts of 2021 by Welp Magazine. Read the list of podcasts from the link here:
https://welpmagazine.com/20-best-tax-podcasts-of-2021/
Andrew Belter and I have moved between LITC organizations and we have a discussion about the related issues. There are many things to think about when leaving a clinic and making things ready or starting at a clinic and getting into the learning curve. We have a discussion of the need for transition plans, the LITC grant report, getting started in an organization and more.
A personal update!
I have changed jobs from the LITC at Kansas Legal Services to working at the LITC at Legal Aid of Western Missouri.
Additionally, I am Supervising Attorney for their Consumer Protection Unit. The unit assists low-income clients to retain ownership of their homes via bankruptcy, tax sale redemption contracts, loan modifications, notices of error and requests for information, and the like; represents clients in debt defense lawsuits and with other claims on behalf of consumers; and represents clients before the Internal Revenue Service and Missouri Department of Revenue with respect to income tax controversies (the LITC).
It has been a great opportunity and I am thrilled to be working with such a wonderful team!
You should be aware of Nina Olson if you are interested in taxes. She was National Taxpayer Advocate for 18 years, cementing the role for leadership of the Taxpayer Advocate Service. She has crossed the nation to get taxpayer feedback, testified before Congress, and submitted annual reports to Congress. Now, she is the Executive Director of the Center for Taxpayer Rights and plans their annual International Conference on Taxpayer Rights. She is an outspoken voice for disadvantaged taxpayers and it was a pleasure to speak with her for this extra-length episode 150 interview.
We discussed the following items - creativity and taxes, persistence to get major accomplishments in the tax system, carpooling with Keith Fogg, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, the state of current tax reform, the Taxpayer Roadmap, the dichotomy of the IRS regarding enforcement and benefits administration, the Center for Taxpayer Rights, learning from international tax administration for the United States, working in the tax system toward a “mission accomplished” goal, the goal of someday owning goats, and collecting dinosaurs.
The next American Bar Association Section of Taxation May Meeting is coming up next week and it is virtual.
On this episode, I discuss various committee panels that focus on tax controversy, policy, ethics, teaching and other interests I have.
Also, there are panels connected to the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic world such as the Pro Bono and Tax Clinics, Individual and Family Taxation, and Diversity committees.
If you are interested in tax, there are discussions of interest at every ABA Section of Taxation Meeting, but the May Meeting is often the largest event of the year.
I took a U.S. Tax Court case to trial and won! This episode discusses the events from the virtual calendar call of Wichita, Kansas to the decision posting on the Tax Court website.
Timeline:
February 11, 2021 – Tax Court Calendar Call (Wichita, KS)
February 23, 2021 – Tax Court Conference Call
March 10, 2021 – Trial
March 11, 2021 – Bench Opinion Oral Findings of Fact and Opinion
April 13, 2021 – Decision transcript posted on Tax Court website
Since there are a couple items that needed to be sealed for confidentiality (not correctly redacted), the entire case wound up being sealed on the Tax Court website.
I can share this link with you: https://taishofflaw.com/2021/04/13/new-jersey-divorces/
Just what does IRS Chief Counsel do? Well, they represent the IRS as their client. What does that mean? In this episode, I unpack different job items that IRS Chief Counsel does beyond go to U.S. Tax Court.
For example, Chief Counsel advise on different legal matters for other divisions of the IRS. What else do they do? Tune in to learn more.
For finding out all kinds of information on the Office of IRS Chief Counsel, head here:
https://www.jobs.irs.gov/resources/job-descriptions/irs-office-chief-counsel
In any profession, it is a curve ball when any skilled person is no longer available. This could be due to death, illness, disability, retirement or just plain turnover at the employer.
I looked into succession plans and have some guidance from LITC Administration. There are things to think about when it comes to case review, grant reporting, contacts for outreach and education, and more.
The American Rescue Plan was signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021. It contains several provisions. Part of the law focuses on tax provisions as well.
In this episode, there is a rundown of top ten items affecting individual tax filers.
1) The third round of stimulus payments (economic impact payments)
2) Earned income tax credit expansion
3) The premium tax credit expansion and partial waiver of repayments
4) Unemployment recipients automatically eligible for the premium tax credit
5) Child tax credit expansion
6) Child and dependent care credit expanded
7) Employer provided dependent care assistance
8) Non-taxable unemployment compensation of $10,200
9) Limits on business losses
10) Potential student loan forgiveness non-taxable
Tune in to learn more!
The National Taxpayer Advocate compared Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) organization to superheroes in a recent blog post:
https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/news/nta-blog-not-all-superheroes-wear-capes-join-the-low-income-taxpayer-clinic-community-and-be-a-hero-to-taxpayers-most-in-need/
Within that blog post, she cites the IRS has the application period open through April 16 for organizations to apply in order to establish a new tax clinic. There is a need for expansion regarding expansion of coverage in Arizona, Florida, Idaho, and Pennsylvania. Also, there are no clinics currently in Nevada, North Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming, and Puerto Rico.
I talk through some of the LITC requirements, but they are all listed in IRS Publication 3319. After that, I discuss the grant report. These are various IRS Form 13424 forms, such as 13424-A, 13424-B, etc.
I encourage you to establish a clinic if you have the resources. Otherwise, please consider making a donation or volunteering with your local clinic!
The tax season keeps changing. The IRS announced that the tax filing deadline for federal individual income tax returns are due on May 17. That does not affect corporate taxes or quarterly estimated tax payments. Will it affect your state tax filing – check with your state’s tax agency.
How will the changes affect tax filing? I talk through some effects that might occur for tax preparers and the IRS. However it goes for you, I hope your tax season is wonderful.
The American Rescue Plan has now been signed into law. It includes an expansion of the child tax credit for 2021. That plan expands the age for qualifying children to include 17-year-olds. It increases the credit to $3,000 per child for many families (with $3,600 being the amount for children under age 6). The $2,500 earnings floor is removed and the credit will be fully refundable. Finally, half of the credit will be paid in advance by the IRS making monthly payments to families from July to December 2021.
In this episode, I touch on the child tax credit expansion and discuss the IRS role in distributing those payments of the credit in 2021. The child tax credit and the earned income credit are times that the IRS is in the role of benefits distributor. That is a change for the IRS from compliance enforcement. I look at the dichotomy as the IRS faces their pivot from one role to another. What will their approach be for the future?
Note: As of the recording, the American Rescue Plan had not passed into law yet.
This episode provides a roundup of recent tax events and other issues. To begin with, the American Bar Association Midyear Tax Meeting was virtual. I provide highlights regarding the Individual & Family Taxation Committee’s focus on the Tax Gap and the Diversity Committee’s focus on inequality in race and taxes. With the IRS, their new electronic system to upload power of attorney forms seems to be working faster than faxing (2 weeks processing time vs. 2 months). On a personal note, I provide updates regarding teaching this semester, a Tax Court case trial this month and writing for Procedurally Taxing.
This is a short episode to provide some highlights on the 2020 tax return that not everyone may be aware of. While I covered some of these items in past episodes, I thought the highlights would be worth mentioning again.
Basically:
- the recovery rebate credit is one way taxpayers may get their economic impact (stimulus) payments through filing a tax return, but they may not get as much as they expect
- the earned income credit has a lookback to compare 2020 income and 2019 income to take the most advantageous for the credit
- there is legislation pending that may increase the child tax credit next tax season
- a reminder that unemployment income is taxable income
Tune it to learn more details!
This episode details the return of the U.S. Tax Court for hearings in Kansas City, Missouri, and Wichita, Kansas in February 2021. Tune in to hear about remote proceedings, feedback on the Tax Court upgrade to the DAWSON system, and remote calendar calls.
The child tax credit is again in the news because of potential increases by Congress. On this episode, I look at the history and the requirements.
I also look at how the credit is both nonrefundable and refundable. That means that the nonrefundable portion takes care of the tax liability before the refundable portion is available. The refundable portion is called the additional child tax credit. Currently, the additional child tax credit is calculated as 15% of the taxpayer’s AGI in excess of $2,500, with the refund value capped at $1,400.
From current news on the proposed child tax credit changes:
The Democrats’ new proposal would increase the credit amount by $1,000 ($1,600 for those with children under 6) and allow taxpayers to receive the full amount as a refund. Additionally, the plan would make the credit payable in monthly installments of $250 and $300, respectively, rather than just once a year. The payments would start to phase out for individuals earning more than $75,000 a year or $150,000 for those married filing jointly.
If passed, the Treasury Department could issue advance payments of up to half the 2021 child tax credit starting in July based on families’ 2019 or 2020 tax return information. If there is any overpayment of the credit, individuals making less than $40,000 ($60,000 for couples filing jointly) will not need to repay the amount, nor will it be garnished from wages.
This episode focuses on the current state of affairs in working with IRS Collections and Enforcement. The issues with the IRS customer service are making it difficult to represent clients. As I focused on last episode, there are delays in CAF Unit processing of Form 2848 power of attorney forms. There are still long delays with speaking with someone over the phone at the IRS to resolve issues. Additionally, the Taxpayer Advocate Service has high workloads that make it difficult to find assistance there.
The IRS does not seem to have received the memo with regard to those issues because clients are still receiving notices from the IRS about balances due with threats of levies or liens. Unfortunately, practitioners and taxpayers have trouble communicating with the IRS about those notices.
To be positive, the IRS reports they are back to normal processing time for receiving mail. There are no communication problems with IRS Counsel and Tax Court so several of my cases came to resolution. The IRS is also taking good steps with their new IRS University and new Chief Taxpayer Experience Officer Ken Corbin toward improving customer service.
Referenced it today’s episode:
https://taxrepllc.com/tax-rep-network-podcast-episode-91-irs-enforcement-in-2021-a-conversation-with-darren-guillot/
https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-creates-new-chief-taxpayer-experience-officer-position-ken-corbin-to-lead-new-focus-to-improve-service-to-taxpayers
While I identified on a previous episode changes that the IRS is making for submissions of power of attorney forms, that still does not change how the IRS processes those forms. There were delays last year for processing of Form 2848 and other forms within the IRS. I talk in this episode about delays at the CAF (Central Authorization File) Unit. This is an issue because the IRS moves forward with collecting through liens or levies yet the representative is unable to communicate with the IRS on a client’s behalf. That cuts down on getting transcripts to learn about the status of the case and beginning any negotiations to fix the situation and help out all parties involved.
The tax season now starts February 12!
In looking at a crash course in taxes, I decided the easiest way to talk with someone about several concepts was to review the form 1040. In part two, I go through the second page of form 1040. It introduces the concepts of the tax due after finding taxable income, nonrefundable credits, other taxes (including self-employment tax), withholding, estimated tax payments, refundable credits and other total payments, leading to the refund or amount owed.
Going through this series of concepts is a great way to introduce several basic topics that are easily expanded upon to talk about for tax controversy case work. For students or others who are new to tax, digging into Form 1040 and moving next to Publication 17 are great places to explore.
In looking at a crash course in taxes, I decided the easiest way to talk with someone about several concepts was to review the form 1040. In part one, I will go through the first page of form 1040. It introduces the concepts of filing status, dependents, income, adjustments to income (which results in adjusted gross income), deductions – the choice of standard or itemized deductions, and taxable income.
Going through this series of concepts is a great way to introduce several basic topics that are easily expanded upon to talk about for tax controversy case work. For students or others who are new to tax, digging into Form 1040 and moving next to Publication 17 are great places to explore.
I am sure many of you have benefited from the economic impact payments (also called stimulus payments). In past episodes, I discussed different people who should have received those payments in 2020. Now, we are looking at another round of the economic impact payments in 2021.
For those who should have received payments but did not, there is a method for reconciling the payments on the 2020 tax return. It is called the recovery rebate credit.
I talk through some of the procedure for the recovery rebate credit and how it will affect people with their economic impact payments. For example, the credit is treated as a non-refundable credit and then converts to a refundable credit. You should have a copy of Notice 1444 when preparing your taxes and considering the recovery rebate credit. These tips and more are in this episode.
Well, 2020 was a wild year. What will 2021 bring? I am not going to try to predict the coming year. After all, who could have predicted the pandemic for 2020? I am going to talk a bit broadly about the coming year, but also I am going to talk through some personal career goals regarding taxes for the next year. A shorter episode as we move into the new year!
Merry Christmas!
This is a recap of the 2021 Annual LITC Grantee Conference, which was entirely virtual for the first time in December 2020. The first week focused on a tax bootcamp and training for financial reporting. The second week was the advanced training and other plenary sessions. Several prominent speakers from the IRS and the U.S. Tax Court gave updates on their programs for this point in the pandemic.
For the last two episodes, I went into more depth on my two presentations during the conference. I hope you have happy holidays as we turn to 2021.
2020 – the year in review. Not much happened this year, right?
Seriously – quite a bit happened inside the tax world and beyond based on the pandemic. For the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic Grantee Conference, I am on a panel discussing the year in review for taxes. The others are talking about the statutory changes and specific cases that affected the tax world. I will be discussing administrative changes from the IRS and the Tax Court.
This episode will go over that panel, but I also discuss what I personally worked on this year. I review my goals for 2020. On my first episode of next year, I will discuss what goals I have regarding 2021. Hopefully this pandemic business will not affect us quite so much.
I hope you are having happy holidays and staying safe!
In the 2021 LITC Grantee Conference, I am giving a presentation on Collections (Part 1). This presentation is part of a series of tax bootcamp presentations for LITC practitioners new to the tax field.
On this episode, I give a summary of items I discuss – the main focus is liens, levies and collection due process. Along the way, I give an update on progress for the Collection Due Process Summit Initiative and give a schedule for the next few episodes.
Next week – 2020 Year in Review!
This episode will look at upcoming training for those involved with Low Income Taxpayer Clinics. I provide details on the bootcamp, plenary and breakout sessions, plus other sessions. I will be speaking in two sessions. I hope this helps those of you involved in LITCs to think about the conference. For others, perhaps this will encourage you to volunteer or otherwise get involved in supporting your local LITC.
A look at Form 2848 processing with the CAF Unit. Currently, there are processing delays. Part of that is due to the COVID pandemic, but part of it is due to the time of year as there are some shutdowns as IRS employees use vacation time.
But, wait – there’s more! Sharyn Fisk, Director of the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility, submitted “Electronic Signature Options Will Simplify Third-Party Authorizations” on November 19, 2020, in CL-20-06. The article details the plans for 2021 regarding what will be acceptable regarding electronic signatures with Form 2848 and Form 8821. The IRS balances ease of access with concerns about fraud or identity theft. Hopefully, more individuals can submit these forms to the IRS without having to worry about spreading the pandemic by being in the same room together.
I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving and will have a safe holiday season!
Earlier this week, I was on the Taxgirl podcast. We spoke in depth about Low Income Taxpayer Clinics.
That episode is available here:
https://www.taxgirl.com/2020/11/17/tax-dispute-law-assistance-through-the-litc/
Taxgirl (Kelly Phillips Erb) also agreed to an interview on this podcast. You may know her as one of the public faces of taxes as she often writes for Forbes and Bloomberg. She also blogs and recently started her podcast through her website.
On this episode, she talks about the origins of the Taxgirl name, how she came to write for Forbes, about her private practice, and how she would spend a blank check for tax reform.
They were fun conversations on both podcasts so please tune in to both episodes.
2020 became the year for virtual tax conferences due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ABA Section of Taxation had their May Meeting and Fall Meeting held virtually. There are other conferences being held virtually as well. The Kansas tax training I attend each year is doing a mix of virtual and in-person. What is the best approach? I talk through some of the pros and cons of doing virtual tax conferences.
3 November updates covered in this episode - Economic Impact Payments, Tax Court case management system, and certain IRS notices resume.
- Economic Impact Payments (EIPs) –
Nov. 10 is "National EIP Registration Day," part of a final push to encourage everyone who doesn't normally file a tax return to register to receive an Economic Impact Payment. "National EIP Registration Day" will take place just a few days ahead of the extended Nov. 21 registration deadline. This special event will feature support from IRS partner groups inside and outside of the tax community, including those that work with low-income and underserved communities.
Why does this matter if you could potentially get your EIP on the 2020 tax return? Because the EIP will look like the refundable credits and could be absorbed by tax liability. For those who need their EIP, that is another barrier to receiving this much-needed money from the IRS.
- Tax Court case management system
In late 2020, the Tax Court will be launching DAWSON, the Court’s new case management system. The Court expects DAWSON to be active by December 28, 2020.To facilitate the transition to DAWSON, beginning at 5:00 PM Eastern Time on November 20, 2020, the current e-filing system will become inaccessible and all electronic files will become read-only.
For those of you needing to file electronically with the Tax Court, it will be unavailable after November 20 until it becomes available again in December!
- Certain IRS notices resume
The IRS will resume issuing the 500 series balance due notices to taxpayers later this month. These notices were paused on May 9 due to COVID-19.
Although the IRS continued to issue most agency notices, the 500 series were suspended temporarily because of a backlog of mail at the IRS due to COVID-19. The IRS says their mail backlog is now “caught up enough” to account for the timely mailed payments. In late October or early November some taxpayers will begin seeing the updated 500 series notices with current issuance and payment dates.
The 500 series includes three different types of notices alerting taxpayers of varying stages of nonpayment — the CP501, the CP503 and the CP504.
The CP501 notice alerts individual taxpayers that they still have a balance due and provides their options.
The CP503 alerts taxpayers that the IRS hasn't heard from them and they may be subject to a lien if they don't pay.
The CP504 alerts taxpayers that they must pay their balances immediately or possibly face a levy of their state income tax refunds.
With the pandemic, the U.S. Tax Court is working on cases virtually. That means there are different procedures for the calendar call docket and trials with the Tax Court. The week of October 5, 2020, was the scheduled week for Tax Court cases in Kansas City. I provide details for the 6 cases called that day, how they were dealt with procedurally, and give insights into dealing with this new virtual world of Tax Court.
What is involved in practice before the U.S. Tax Court? There are specific procedures for both attorneys and non-attorneys to be admitted to the Tax Court. This episode provides information about what is involved for non-attorneys to pass the examination in order to practice before the U.S. Tax Court. This episode also looks at the required forms and fees for admittance. Beyond that, non-attorneys have a large commitment of time, travel, and study in order to pass the exam. Did you know that the passage rate is between 5 and 19%? There are study groups that may help with your passage rate, but it could get expensive!
Last year, the Taxpayer Advocate Service released the Taxpayer Roadmap. I am doing a 6-part review of the various stages of the United States federal tax system as shown on the Taxpayer Roadmap.
To find out more about the roadmap, use this link: https://taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/roadmap
Part 6 of the 6-part series is a look at Litigation with the IRS. This look at litigation will go down four paths. The first two deal with Tax Court, specifically the Notice of Deficiency or different types of Notice of Determination (innocent spouse, collection due process, whistleblower, etc.). From Tax Court, a taxpayer could potentially appeal the decision all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The third path is a refund suit in federal district court. The fourth path is filing a bankruptcy petition. However, there are several threshold rules regarding if a tax year’s liability qualifies to be discharged in a bankruptcy case. By touching on these different areas, I present the different ways a taxpayer can go through litigation to try to resolve tax issues with the IRS.
Last year, the Taxpayer Advocate Service released the Taxpayer Roadmap. I am doing a 6-part review of the various stages of the United States federal tax system as shown on the Taxpayer Roadmap.
To find out more about the roadmap, use this link: https://taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/roadmap
Part 5 of the 6-part series is a look at IRS Appeals. Appeals is often the department a taxpayer is working with when there is a dispute about the tax assessment and it is necessary to negotiate for a resolution regarding the result. Appeals may start to be involved when a taxpayer files a protest letter with the IRS. Appeals may also start to be involved after the taxpayer files a petition with Tax Court. Overall, it is best to gather all supporting documents to make the case, but be organized in making the case with Appeals in order to come to the best settlement.
Last year, the Taxpayer Advocate Service released the Taxpayer Roadmap. I am doing a 6-part review of the various stages of the United States federal tax system as shown on the Taxpayer Roadmap.
To find out more about the roadmap, use this link: https://taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/roadmap
Part 4 of the 6-part series is a look at IRS Collections. Collections takes over when a taxpayer does not pay an amount owed to the IRS. This episode will discuss the process of actions taken by IRS Collections such as notices sent, the selection of cases worked and the seizure of assets leading to lien or levy enforcement. There are also alternatives available such as levy or lien relief, installment agreement, currently not collectible, bankruptcy, disagreeing with the assessment, Offer in Compromise or payment in full.
Last year, the Taxpayer Advocate Service released the Taxpayer Roadmap. I am doing a 6-part review of the various stages of the United States federal tax system as shown on the Taxpayer Roadmap.
To find out more about the roadmap, use this link: https://taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/roadmap
Part 3 of the 6-part series is a look at IRS Examination. The department really digs into the differences between what the taxpayer submitted on the tax return and what the IRS believes should be on the tax return. Is the taxpayer disputing what the IRS assessed? Several examinations result through the assessment and screening process. Overall, there are three types of exams that we all think of as audits: correspondence (letters), office (taxpayer going into IRS office), or field exams (the IRS visits the taxpayer’s residence or business).
Last year, the Taxpayer Advocate Service released the Taxpayer Roadmap. I am doing a 6-part review of the various stages of the United States federal tax system as shown on the Taxpayer Roadmap.
To find out more about the roadmap, use this link: https://taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/roadmap
Part 2 of the 6-part series is a look at tax return processing. The department looks at returns to see if there is a refund claim or a balance due. The IRS checks the return to be sure there is no identity theft or other fraud. Next, the IRS checks the return for math errors and accurate reporting of financial information. If there is an issue found, does the taxpayer agree or want to dispute the issue? These and other topics such as tax return processing in the COVID pandemic era are discussed.
Last year, the Taxpayer Advocate Service released the Taxpayer Roadmap. I am doing a 6-part review of the various stages of the United States federal tax system as shown on the Taxpayer Roadmap.
To find out more about the roadmap, use this link: https://taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/roadmap
I begin the 6-part series with a look at tax preparation. This episode looks at the various parts of tax preparation such as gathering documents, going to a tax preparer, free filing options, going to VITA or AARP Tax-Aide, filing an extension, and more.
IRS Settlement Days are a process where IRS Counsel selects cases that would potentially be ripe for settlement or would benefit from a conference. These Settlement Days are often in anticipation of upcoming Tax Court trial sessions. They work with pro bono attorneys, often from Low Income Taxpayer Clinics, that act as disinterested third parties to advise unrepresented petitioners regarding the tax or legal procedural issues they are facing.
This year, Settlement Days are happening virtually due to the pandemic. Kansas City Counsel had scheduled Virtual Settlement Days for August 26 through 29. I give a report on how things went, provide some tips and describe different issues the taxpayers faced.
For another account of Virtual Settlement Days, go here:
https://procedurallytaxing.com/inside-a-virtual-settlement-day/
A shorter episode this week as I inform you about some other tax podcasts out there for tax news and interviews. Just keep listening to this one - please!!!
Here are some of the podcasts mentioned in this episode -
ABA Tax Times People in Tax:
https://directory.libsyn.com/shows/view/id/peopleintaxpodcasts
Simply Tax:
https://www.bkd.com/simplytax
Bloomberg Talking Tax:
https://pro.bloombergtax.com/talking-tax-podcast/
Tax Notes Talk:
https://www.taxnotes.com/tax-notes-talk
Tax Rep Network:
https://taxrepllc.com/tax-rep-network-podcast/
Tax Resolution Success Show:
https://www.rozstrategies.com/podcast/
Taxing Subjects (Drake Software):
https://www.drakesoftware.com/blog/tags/taxing%20subjects%20podcast
Taxgirl Podcast:
https://www.taxgirl.com/taxgirl-podcast/podcast-episode-guide/
This episode is an interview with Bobby French. Bobby is starting as a 3L at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Law. He worked both as a student intern and volunteer for the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic at Kansas Legal Services and is pursuing his LL.M. in Taxation at UMKC.
We discuss the value of fun in teaching tax, lessons he learned while interning for Kansas Legal Services, his thoughts on assisting low income clients, the differences in tax controversy work and tax theory courses, his views on the amount of math involved in tax controversy work and more.
The IRS communicated that prisoners and decedents were not eligible for economic impact payments through the COVID-19 FAQs on their website. IRS FAQs are best for communicating their message quickly to the public. The problem is that there is no formal comment process on these FAQs and the IRS does not consider them to be legal authority that would be usable for a legal argument in a court case. There were some blog posts in July that criticized IRS FAQs that I revisit in this episode. I agree with their arguments and make my own statements that unreliable IRS communication erodes the trust that taxpayers place in the IRS. Tune in to learn more and draw your own conclusions regarding IRS statements to the public.
Around 160 million economic impact payments have been distributed by the IRS. This is a feat that must be applauded! However, not everyone received their payments. In this podcast episode, I will discuss those who did not receive their payments – those who were explicitly mentioned in the statutory language, those who were added later by FAQs from the IRS, and those who were lost in the shuffle. The National Taxpayer Advocate, Erin M. Collins, wrote about how the Taxpayer Advocate Service can assist beginning August 10.
https://taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/news/nta-blog-tas-to-assist-correcting-eip-amounts-for-limited-groups-of-taxpayers?category=Tax%20News
The former National Taxpayer Advocate, Nina Olson, wrote in Procedurally Taxing about how the IRS still has work to do to get economic impact payments to vulnerable taxpayers.
https://procedurallytaxing.com/irs-we-applaud-your-work-and-we-feel-your-pain-but-we-need-you-to-do-more-to-get-dollars-out-to-vulnerable-taxpayers/
A wrap-up regarding my report on teaching Tax Procedure at Washburn University School of Law. A discussion of the class project involving the Taxpayer Roadmap, plus some talk about refund suits and private debt collections, and a review of the client counseling session from the beginning of the semester.
Unfortunately, we cannot avoid ethical issues by choosing to do tax controversy cases. I wanted to share with you some specific issues for taxes that I learned about at an American Bar Association Section of Tax Meeting. Forms to think about include informed consent for married taxpayers (if they divorce or have a different conflict of interest) and limited scope representation. I also bring up some issues regarding the duty of confidentiality and clients with special circumstances like diminished capacity, death or other unavailability.
When advocating for a client, you do not want to skip to the conclusion. It is necessary to build up the argument with support – link the law and the facts with words like “because.” This has applications in law school exams, court arguments, and correspondence-based advocacy. Correspondence-based advocacy includes government submissions where we are making arguments with supporting documents. Learn about the IRAC and CRAC methods and how to gain sympathy for your client by painting a picture in words.
This focus on Tax Court concludes with a focus on litigation related to Tax Court. How do you frame a trial with Tax Court? How is Tax Court different from other courts? These items and a dive into certain items like shifting the burden of proof to the IRS and making qualified offers make up the episode.
I mentioned some of this before, but here is an update on changes with the Tax Court due to COVID-19. The main item I wanted to bring to your attention is the availability of the Clerk’s office with the Tax Court on July 10 if you are timing the filing of a petition based on the Guralnik case. I discuss the cancellation of Tax Court dockets in the spring and summer, balanced with the scheduling of dockets for the fall. That leads into virtual trial settings and virtual settlement days. Also, the Court has not been receiving mail but that changes on July 10. If you are filing a petition in July, there are the Guralnik case and IRS Notice 2020-23 that affect jurisdiction. I end with a talk about the changes to the Tax Court case system and the June 2 post on Procedurally Taxing by Keith Fogg. I hope this helps to understand Tax Court changes for the summer! Happy 4th of July weekend!
This episode is an introduction to the U.S. Tax Court – information about the Court itself, things to think about when filing a petition with the Tax Court (location, filing fee/waiver, filling out the petition, s case versus regular case), the calendar call, and designated orders from the Court.
This episode focuses on the big picture view of “the new normal for taxes” since there have been several changes connected to the coronavirus pandemic. Topics discussed include missed opportunities and new opportunities related to the ABA May Tax Meeting, Tax Court, free webinars, Virtual Settlement Days, and more.
Some tips:
-
If there were issues with the economic impact payment, some of the potential assistance I know about are the phone number 1-800-919-9835 or using IRS form 3911. Otherwise, the main advice I have is to file a 2019 tax return separately if you need to show on record that you are no longer with the spouse from a joint return so that you can potentially receive the payment as a refund on the 2020 tax return.
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The University of San Diego Law School has for free virtually their 5th Annual Tax Controversy Institute on July 17 looking at tax controversy work during COVID-19, the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility, and IRS Fraud Enforcement and Criminal Investigations.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/5th-annual-usd-school-of-law-rjs-law-tax-controversy-institute-tickets-93194377893
- Kostelanetz and Fink is holding the 12th Annual NYU Tax Controversy Forum for free virtually on June 18 and 19. By the time this airs, those dates may have passed, but they are available through CPAcademy, which will be rebroadcasting those webinars during the summer. The webinars will have updates from the heads of several departments at the IRS such as the new Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins and new head of the Independent Office of Appeals Andy Keyso. They will also have presentations on penalties, fraud, Tax Collections, and enforcement.
https://kflawtaxforum.com/agenda/
- ABA Virtual May Tax Meeting is June 10 through July 30. 19 webinars over 6 weeks covering ethics, Tax Court, international tax, corporate tax (19 or so committees). Rates range from free to $500 for the entire series, depending on your category.
- June 10: Tax Bridge to Practice1:00pm - 4:05pm
- June 11: Corporate Tax/Affiliated & Related Corporations1:00pm - 2:35pm
- June 17: Tax Accounting1:00pm - 3:00pm
- June 18: Closely Held Businesses1:00pm - 2:45pm
- June 24: S Corporations1:00 - 4:00pm
- June 25: State & Local Taxes1:00pm - 3:00pm
- July 1: International Day 112:00pm - 1:30pm
- July 2: International Day 21:00pm - 4:00pm
- July 8: Real Estate & Partnerships & LLCs1:00pm - 4:00pm
- July 9: Estate and Gift Taxes1:00pm - 4:00pm
- July 14: Civil & Criminal Tax Penalties1:00pm - 4:00pm
- July 15: Exempt Organizations1:00pm - 4:00pm
- July 16: Financial Institutions & Products1:00pm - 3:00pm
- July 21: Sales, Exchanges and Basis/Capital Recovery and Leasing1:00pm - 4:00pm
- July 22: Court Procedure & Practice1:00pm - 3:00pm
- July 23: Investment Management1:00pm - 4:00pm
- July 28: Employee Benefits1:00pm - 4:00pm
- July 29: Administrative Practice1:00pm - 3:00pm
- July 30: Standards of Tax Practice1:00pm - 3:00pm
*All sessions are live in Eastern Standard Time
William Chun was selected as Tax Division Liaison at the American Bar Association. Will is a law student who is getting experience through tax courses at Rutgers Law School. Tune in to learn about his responsibility as Tax Division Liaison to get other law students interested in tax.
It's an episode release on my birthday -
Would you give me the gift of listening to my interview with Paul Harrison? He is the Tax Clinic Director for Ladder Up (formerly the Center for Economic Progress) in Chicago, Illinois. He has been working at Low Income Taxpayer Clinics in Maine and Virginia since 2001. This veteran wanted to give out some guidance. We wound up talking about the economic impact payments and related issues for deceased taxpayers, prisoners, and resident/nonresident aliens. What are the cutoffs for when a person should be required to return a payment?
Happy Episode 100! To celebrate, I interviewed Professor Francine Lipman of the William S. Boyd School of Law at Las Vegas, Nevada. She inspired the name for the Tax Justice Warriors podcast so I have wanted to interview her about that. We talked about passion warriors for tax justice, being a William S. Boyd Professor of Law, teaching remotely, the ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice, serving as a Nevada Tax Commissioner, and time management for her writing and other accomplishments.
https://law.unlv.edu/faculty/francine-lipman
Rebecca Stavish is the Managing Attorney for the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic for Mid Penn Legal Services in Pennsylvania. We talked about working from home, her assistance for Amish clients, unique client property valuation, identity theft issues for economic impact payments, and more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0N3U86VHgk
By the way, next episode is number 100. I have a special guest lined up who ties in to the origins of Tax Justice Warriors. How’s that for a tease?
On this episode, I interviewed Maura Quint of Tax March. Tax March has political roots, but I wanted to highlight how they are trying to educate and assist people who do not understand the tax system. We talked about Maura's humor writing, social activism, the Tax March organization and helping low income and working class taxpayers.
Note: I figured out how to improve the audio quality on interviews so starting this week they should be a lot better. My apologies to interviewees and listeners for poor audio quality on past episodes. Hey, it's a one-man show!
https://taxmarch.org/
https://taxmarch.org/about/ (to find information on Maura Quint)
A return appearance for a discussion with Andrew Belter, Clinic Director and Qualified Tax Expert of the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic at the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee. We discuss tax cases and working with the IRS during times of COVID-19. Again, my apologies for any audio issues in the recording.
I interviewed Andrew Aleman, an attorney with the Law Offices of Nick Nemeth, PLLC in Dallas, Texas. Andrew has his LL.M. in tax, volunteered for Rhode Island Legal Services, and has been a site coordinator for the VITA program. He gives his thoughts on working remotely and adapting to technology in our current work situation. Note: I apologize for the audio issues as Andrew is tough to hear.
An interview with Shanthy Bala of Florida Rural Legal Services. She will share experiences of recently joining the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic program, benefits of going to American Bar Association meetings, and the transition to working remotely during recent changes due to the coronavirus.
https://www.frls.org/services/tax-assistance/
Two main items to report on:
First, while the IRS extended individual income tax filing to July 15, 2020, there were other tax deadlines that needed to be extended. What about the deadline for 2016 tax refunds? The IRS issued a notice that addressed these issues and gave an extension for Tax Court deadline filing.
Second, a big item of news is the economic impact payments. What are amounts people will receive? Who will qualify? How should people sign up with the IRS? What information is needed when signing up?
Find out these and further details.
Stay safe out there!
This is a bit of a survey regarding liens and levies, then turning to collection due process. This starts to inform you regarding what happens when a taxpayer receives a notice from the IRS regarding a lien or levy (what is the difference?). From there, the taxpayer might qualify for Collection Due Process. Collection Due Process has areas based on notices, Appeals, and Tax Court. I am part of the Collection Due Process Summit Initiative and there is quite a bit of information that could be covered on those topics so I am listing past episodes on those topics. Episodes 43 and 44 were on liens and levies. Episodes 39, 50, 70, 77 and 80 were on collection due process.
As part of recent legislation related to the coronavirus, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act was signed into law on March 18, 2020. This law temporarily expands the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) to allow American businesses with fewer than 500 employees to provide employees with paid leave, either for the employee's own health needs or to care for family members. Tune in to find out more.
Boy, the coronavirus news just keeps coming, doesn't it? To begin with, there is the IRS People First Initiative that announces ways the IRS is delaying various collection activities. But do you know about some closures and social distancing situations that are also going on at the IRS? Tune in to learn more.
There have been several updates in the tax world in reaction to the coronavirus. The big change is the delay for the filing season to July 15, 2020. However, there are several updates at the federal and state level, plus I give some Kansas City updates. Tune in to hear about the updates, but there will be another episode as the changes keep coming!
After a brief update on coronavirus effects on the tax world, this episode brings a discussion of family-related tax issues. To start, the filing status chosen has different effects on the tax return. Specifically, when a married couple files a joint tax return, there could be further issues. That leads to the difference between injured spouse relief and innocent spouse relief.
Injured spouse relief applies when one spouse’s refund will be applied to the other spouse’s government debt.
Innocent spouse relief applies to married couples with tax debt when one spouse dies, there is a legal separation/divorce, or the spouses have been separated for 12 months. The requesting spouse cannot amend a joint tax return so must file for innocent spouse relief to get the debt divided or if the debt is all connected to the other spouse’s income. The form requires details about the marriage including education levels, involvement with filing the taxes, and whether there was domestic violence. Since there is so much to innocent spouse relief, I will be doing a follow-up episode.
This episode will be a mixture of tax topics. What is in this tax gumbo, you ask? First, we start with student reflection papers to tax procedure. Hear about their reactions to this kind of work and how it may affect them. Following that, there is tax news such as the new National Taxpayer Advocate, Erin M. Collins. Finally, there are coronavirus shutdowns that affect the tax world. I hope this is a tasty mix of tax sustenance to get you through this current situation.
Family-related tax matters this week include the set of 6 tax benefits that are allowed with qualifying children, how Form 8332 allows a noncustodial parent part of that set, and a comparison between the qualifying child and qualifying relative requirements. For further information, listen to episode 12 (the Qualifying child and the Qualifying Relative).
Looking for collection alternatives? Boy, have we got them! We start with some installment agreements, a heavy dose of offer in compromise (IRS settlement agreement) with a dash of petition for abatement (Kansas settlement agreement). This episode goes a little long, but it still just scratches the surface when it comes to offers in compromise. There is so much to cover with a offer in compromise forms that this serves as a good introduction.
A revisit of currently not collectible status and the local standards that apply. Currently not collectible status is helpful for low income clients with more expenses than income. It might mean that the IRS halts Collection activity. If it continues long enough, the debt owed to the IRS may expire. When gathering information for your client to qualify, you will need to find out about assets, income and expenses. The local standards are expense limits regarding the amount of expenses a taxpayer may claim.
For further information, I also did episodes 8 and 9 for a more in-depth examination of currently not collectible status.
The Taxpayer Advocate Service provides help for taxpayers on the individual level and through systemic advocacy. On the individual level, I look at the collection statute expiration date (CSED), hardship refund offset bypass, and identity theft. For systemic advocacy, there is the SAMS system, Taxpayer Assistance Orders, reports to Congress, and more. I also talk about Freedom of Information Act requests as a tool for systemic advocacy.
Continuing the focus on basics from the Tax Procedure course at Washburn University School of Law.
Tax research is a key component in understanding how to help a client. I scratch the surface in discussing tax research - primary vs. secondary sources, online vs. print and a mention of certain websites I frequently use.
As I teach Tax Procedure at Washburn University School of Law as an adjunct professor, I am going to discuss each week’s different teaching topic on the podcast. This may be review for you, but it could be the focus on a new topic for a beginning practitioner.
This week, the focus is on interviewing clients. New practitioners need to be comfortable in talking with a client to hear their story. Issue spotting is necessary to find out what the client’s needs are and goal setting will make sure that both the client and practitioner know what results are necessary when working on the case.
There are also different considerations for clients with low income, diverse, and English as a Second Language backgrounds. Tax protestors and other difficult clients may take special handling. Finally, when negotiating with the IRS, know that there are both competitive and cooperative styles.
Tune in to find out greater detail on these topics.
As I teach Tax Procedure at Washburn University School of Law as an adjunct professor, I am going to discuss each week’s different teaching topic on the podcast. This may be review for you, but it could be the focus on a new topic for a beginning practitioner.
This week, I am looking at IRS transcripts. The tax transcript, wage and income transcript, and account transcript are all available from the IRS and provide different functions. Just requesting a transcript from the IRS for a year may not get you the transcript you need.
The American Bar Association started an Adopt a Base program in 2013 that continues to the present. This is an initiative to get ABA attorneys to volunteer for training at military base Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) programs. It assists attorneys looking for pro bono or other volunteer projects and provides support for those people preparing taxes on our military bases. I provided training at McConnell Air Force Base (southeast Wichita, Kansas) this week. Tune in to find out more details and learn about volunteering.
I travelled to several locations in Kansas to speak to tax preparers about the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic program. This was in order to build recognition of the clinic and find volunteers. I am also talking with law students about tax controversy work. Hear about these and other times that I spoke to groups in order to let them know about the LITC in Kansas. Perhaps you can find some tips you can use in your practice for reaching the public.
In this episode, I focus on 2020 in taxes. I discuss some areas I will be focused on for the coming year, including one announcement. I am not going to try and predict broad tax changes in the coming year, but I do have one person I suggest to watch in 2020. Have a Happy New Year!
A look back at 2019 for broad tax issues and a recap of the Tax Justice Warriors podcast. I did more interviews in 2019 than 2018 so I review that group. I also look at the top tax news items for the year and what my focus was during the year. My next episode will look at what I will focus on for 2020.
A follow-up to the LITC Grantee Conference held December 2019 in Washington, D.C. I give background to panels I was on or attended, plus some tips for attending the conference. The show goes a bit longer so I guess I had something to say on the conference.
Here are some tips that didn’t get on the episode: I go to a nearby pharmacy and buy breakfast for the rest of the week so I don’t have to try and grab breakfast at a restaurant every morning. I had leftover boxes from dinners that I ate at the brown bag lunches. Also, the Grand Hyatt hotel is above the Metro Center stop for the Metro if you want to ride in from the Reagan Airport.
Each year, the American Bar Association Section of Taxation hosts a Low Income Taxpayer Representation Workshop in Washington, D.C. Last week, the workshop’s focus was the Collection Due Process Summit Initiative. We held two panels that looked at CDP history, the Summit Initiative, and how to work with the Taxpayer Advocate Service for systemic change. Following that, there were breakout sessions focused on the stages of Notices, Appeals, and the Judicial levels. I helped to plan and organize this year’s workshop, taking part in a panel, a breakout discussion on CDP notices and reporting back to the group. I provide input from the CDP Notices breakout session and discuss the workshop. It was a successful gathering of practitioners for fruitful education and discussion of CDP issues.
This week, I have been in Washington, D.C. to discuss LITC issues at our annual conference. For that reason, I am presenting an interview with Samantha Galvin. Samantha is an Associate Professor of the Practice of Taxation at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. She is also the Assistant Director of the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic at the university. She blogs for Procedurally Taxing on designated orders from the U.S. Tax Court and was a clerk for the Tax Court. We speak about designated orders, teaching tax courses and more.
Each December there is a conference to provide training for Low Income Tax Clinic clinicians in Washington, D.C. I provide information on this year's conference - speakers, the types of sessions and topics. I will be involved in different presentations on Collection Due Process and Social Media (discussing this podcast, Tax Justice Warriors). If you will be at the conference, please come and chat with me. It is a great time to learn and meet others in this field.
Hope you had a happy Thanksgiving!
This year, the Collection Due Process Summit Initiative will be the focus of the ABA Low Income Taxpayer Representative Symposium in Washington, D.C. It will be held December 3 from 8:30 to noon at Morgan, Lewis and Bockius at low cost with CLE credit. Go here to register: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/taxation/events_cle/19litr_resources/
The CDP Summit meeting will include a panels about Opportunities for CDP Improvement and Approaching Change With the IRS. There will be breakout sessions focused on CDP Notices, Appeals, and Tax Court. In the meeting, you can give the CDP Summit Initiative feedback on improvements for the CDP process. If you will be in the Washington, D.C. area that morning, we hope you can attend!