Tax Justice Warriors

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 you...

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-...

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...

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 confere...

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 ju...

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 vir...

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-attor...

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...

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 w...

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...

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 b...

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 t...

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 pr...

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...

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.bloomberg...

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 Service...

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....

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...

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...