The Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) offers an essential, free legal service to a group of taxpayers who would not ordinarily be able to afford representation – single individuals with household incomes of up to $23,925 and couples with children and household incomes slightly higher than $48,375. Launched in January 2006, the LITC builds on Duke’s nationally recognized tax law program and furthers the development and training of Duke law students.
The LITC provides students with the opportunity to work directly with clients who have disputes with the IRS and represent those clients in cases before various components of the IRS and the United States Tax Court. Each semester, a group of up to 10 students, under the supervision of the clinic director and lecturing fellow, handle multiple cases – interviewing clients, researching case law, and gathering facts and documentation to effectively represent clinic clients. Students learn how to be effective advocates in matters involving large government agencies.
All LITC students are required to have successfully completed the Law School’s Federal Income Taxation course, devote 100 hours to client work, and attend 28 hours of lectures on issues ranging from IRS tax practice and procedures to substantive questions in tax law, including matters such as:
- Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
- Innocent spouse relief
- Offers-in-Compromise (OIC)
- Identity theft
- Forgiveness of indebtedness
- Abatement of penalties based on reasonable cause
- Timeliness of assessment
The LITC can handle cases in the following areas:
- Collection of determined tax liabilities
- IRS challenges to payouts under EITC
- IRS audits
- Filing notices of federal tax liens and serving notice of levy
- Appeals of adverse determinations
- Representation of clients in docketed “S” cases in the United States Tax Court
- Employee/independent contractor disputes