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An Internal Revenue Service audit is stressful in the best of situations. For one low-income single mother, learning she owed $24,000 in additional taxes and penalties was nerve-wracking.��

The University of Washington Federal Tax Clinic assists low-income individuals throughout Western Washington resolve disputes with the Internal Revenue Service. The clinic offers this assistance as a public service and as a means of training law students in tax practice. The Tax Clinic also includes nine pro bono volunteer attorneys who assist the growing number of low-income taxpayers who have disputes with the IRS.��

The clinic is the only one of its kind in Western Washington.

“We are proud to serve some of the most vulnerable client populations in Western Washington,” said John Clynch, managing director of the Federal Tax Clinic and a senior law lecturer.

In the single mother’s case, the IRS audit rejected several credits and exemptions, including the child tax credit and earned income credit. After unsuccessful negotiations with IRS Appeals, the Tax Clinic filed a petition in Tax Court. The Clinic and IRS counsel worked together to submit a decision document to the Tax Court.

The case ultimately was resolved and the client was assessed no deficiencies or penalties during the tax years at issue.

Garnished Social Security benefits

The clinic also represented a client who could not work as a result of chronic pain and struggled to get by on Social Security benefits, which were being garnished to satisfy debts stemming from student loans and federal taxes.

The client was also subject to collection activity for previous medical and legal expenses, and had taken out a reverse mortgage. The client owed roughly $10,000 to the IRS when the clinic accepted the case. After submitting an Offer in Compromise, the client was able to settle the tax debt for $20.

A unique educational experience

Students learn not only how to navigate the legal questions, but also have the opportunity to help clients in need.

“Working in the Federal Tax Clinic, I have seen first-hand how tax issues can add to the burdens of some of the lowest-income and most vulnerable members of the local community,” said E.M., a student who graduated with a J.D. in 2018 and is now in the L.L.M. tax program but wished to remain anonymous. “The clinic's work makes a huge difference to these clients. At the same time, my work in the clinic has allowed me to explore a wide variety of tax issues, ranging from tax planning to the finality of Tax Court decisions, that I would not have had the chance to grapple with in other settings.”

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