APPLICATIONS DUE: June 15, 2015
Description: The Low Income Tax Clinic (LITC) Program provides matching grants of up to $100,000 per year to qualifying organizations that represent low income taxpayers involved in controversies with the IRS and educate ESL taxpayers about their rights and responsibilities as taxpayers. Representation, education, and advocacy are the primary functions of LITCs.
Beginning in grant year 2016, all grantees must provide controversy representation services to low income taxpayers. The LITC Program will no longer award grants to organizations that provide only education and outreach to the English as a Second Language (ESL) community.
Funding Title: Low Income Taxpayer Clinic
Agency Name: Department of Treasury, Low Income Taxpayer Clinic
Funding Instrument Type: Grant
Express Language for Legal Aid: Yes. “Core services in federal tax controversy cases include representing taxpayers in examinations, appeals, collection matters, and litigation. Core services also include representing taxpayers before specialized units of the IRS that handle matters such as account disputes, identity theft, innocent spouse relief, worker classification, or individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) processing.”
Target Population: Low income taxpayers
Expected Number of Awards: 150
Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement: The LITC Program is a matching grant program. All grantees must provide matching funds on a dollar-for-dollar basis for all federal funds received from the LITC Program. Only funds that are used in direct support of the LITC Program qualify as matching funds.
Grant funds received from the Legal Services Corporation are not considered federal funds and therefore can be used as a source of matching funds.
How to Apply: The application must be submitted electronically via http://www.grants.gov. Use of grants.gov provides assurance that required entries are not left blank on the standard forms and provides receipt acknowledgement when the application is received by the LITC Program Office. The grants.gov website includes a narrated tutorial and Frequently Asked Questions to help you use the system. The Funding Opportunity Number for the 2016 LITC grant application is TREAS-GRANTS-052016-001.
Currently funded grantees applying for funding for the second or third year of a multi-year grant must submit a Non-Competitive Continuation request.
Current Closing Date for Applications: Jun 15, 2015
Estimated Total Program Funding: Approximately $10,000,000
Award Ceiling: $100,000
Award Floor: $1,000
Eligible Applicants: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education; Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education; Private institutions of higher education
Priority Consideration: An overriding goal of the LITC Program is to provide services to low income and ESL taxpayers in every state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. To that end, the IRS encourages applications from clinics located in the underserved areas shown in the chart below:
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Geographic Underserved Areas in Need of LITC Services |
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Alabama—Birmingham, Mobile, Huntsville |
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Alaska—Anchorage, Fairbanks |
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California—Los Angeles, Sacramento |
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Colorado—Denver, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins |
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Georgia—Atlanta, Savannah, Columbus |
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Mississippi—Jackson, Gulfport |
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North Carolina—Winston-Salem, Wilmington, Raleigh |
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North Dakota—Bismarck, Fargo |
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Oklahoma—Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Lawton |
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South Carolina—Charleston, Columbia |
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Texas—El Paso, Corpus Christi, Austin |
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Utah—Salt Lake City |
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Puerto Rico—San Juan, Ponce, Mayaguez |
Notwithstanding the criteria detailed above, applications or NCCs from all areas will receive serious consideration.
Policy and Regulations on Use of Funds: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p3319.pdf
Current/Past Funding Recipients: 2014 2015
Samples of Successful Application:
Link to Full Announcement: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p3319.pdf
Contact Information: Potential applicants may direct questions concerning the LITC Program or the application process to the LITC Program Office via:
- Email:LITCProgramOffice@irs.gov;
- Phone: 202-317-6659 (not a toll-free number); or Mail:
Internal Revenue Service Taxpayer Advocate Service LITC Program Office TA:LITC, Room 1034
1111 Constitution Ave., NW Washington, DC 20224.
Current grantees should direct questions about reporting or program requirements directly to their assigned Advocacy Analyst.
Questions regarding use of grantsolutions.gov may be directed to the Program Office via email at Beard.William@irs.gov.
Categories: Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Education Organizations, Express Language for Legal Aid, Federal Tax, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Limited English Proficiency (LEP), Non-profit Organizations, Pro Bono
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