Low Income Taxpayer Clinic Grant Program; Availability of 2019 Supplemental Grant Application Period
| Published date | 26 March 2019 |
| Citation | 84 FR 11396 |
| Record Number | 2019-05681 |
| Section | Notices |
| Court | Internal Revenue Service,Treasury Department |
Federal Register, Volume 84 Issue 58 (Tuesday, March 26, 2019)
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 58 (Tuesday, March 26, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11396-11397]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-05681]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Internal Revenue Service
Low Income Taxpayer Clinic Grant Program; Availability of 2019
Supplemental Grant Application Period
AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This document contains a Notice that the IRS is accepting
applications from qualified organizations for a part-year Low Income
Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) matching grant to provide representation to low
income taxpayers and education about taxpayer rights and
responsibilities to individuals who speak English as a second language
(ESL taxpayers) in certain identified geographic areas. The grant will
cover the last five months of the 2019 grant year, from August 1, 2019,
through December 31, 2019. The supplemental application period shall
run from March 19, 2019, to April 18, 2019.
DATES: An organization applying for part-year funding for the 2019
grant year must submit its application electronically at
www.grants.gov. All organizations must use the funding number of TREAS-
GRANTS-052019-002, and applications must be filed electronically by
11:59 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time) on April 18, 2019. The Federal
Financial Assistance program number is 21.008. See https://beta.sam.gov/.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bill Beard at (949) 575-6200 (not a
toll-free number) or by email at [email protected]. The LITC
Program Office is located at: IRS, Taxpayer Advocate Service, LITC
Grant Program Administration Office, TA: LITC, 1111 Constitution Avenue
NW, Room 1034, Washington, DC 20224. Copies of the 2019 Grant
Application Package and Guidelines, IRS Publication 3319 (Rev. 5-2018),
can be downloaded from the IRS internet site at www.irs.gov/advocate or
ordered by calling the IRS Distribution Center toll-free at 1-800-829-
3676.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In Public Law 116-6, Congress appropriated
$12,000,000 for low income taxpayer clinic grants for fiscal year 2019.
Despite the IRS's efforts to foster parity in availability and
accessibility in the selection of organizations receiving LITC matching
grants and the continued increase in clinic services nationwide, there
remain communities that are underrepresented by clinics, and
consequently, not all funds
[[Page 11397]]
appropriated for the LITC Program have been awarded. For the
supplemental application period, the IRS will focus on geographic areas
where there is limited or no clinic representation.
The IRS will award up to $300,000 in funding to qualifying
organizations, subject to the limitations of Internal Revenue Code
(IRC) section 7526. A qualifying organization may receive a matching
grant of up to $100,000 per year. Organizations currently receiving a
grant are not eligible to apply during this supplemental application
period. Grant funds may be awarded for start-up expenditures incurred
during the grant year. The selection process for these part-year grants
may not be complete before the beginning of the application period for
the 2020 grant year; thus, applicants for a part-year grant will be
expected to submit a separate application for full-year funding for the
2020 grant year during the 2020 grant application period, when
announced later this year, with an anticipated opening on May 1, 2019.
Below is a list that contains the identified underserved geographic
areas:
Hawaii
Montana
North Dakota
Puerto Rico
West Virginia
Wyoming
Qualifying organizations that provide representation to low income
individual taxpayers involved in a tax controversy with the IRS and
educate ESL taxpayers about their rights and responsibilities under the
IRC are eligible for a grant. An LITC must provide services for free or
for no more than a nominal fee. Examples of qualifying organizations
include (1) a clinical program at an accredited law, business, or
accounting school whose students represent low income taxpayers in tax
controversies with the IRS and (2) an organization exempt from tax
under IRC section 501(a) whose employees and volunteers represent low
income taxpayers in controversies with the IRS and may also make
referrals to qualified volunteers to provide representation.
In determining whether to award a grant, the IRS will consider a
variety of factors, including: (1) The number of taxpayers who will be
assisted by the organization, including the number of ESL taxpayers in
that geographic area; (2) the existence of other LITCs assisting the
same population of low income and ESL taxpayers; (3) the quality of the
program offered by the organization, including the qualifications of
its administrators and qualified representatives, and its record, if
any, in providing representation services to low income taxpayers; (4)
the quality of the application, including the reasonableness of the
proposed budget; (5) the organization's compliance with all federal tax
obligations (filing and payment); (6) the organization's compliance
with all federal nontax monetary obligations (filing and payment); (7)
whether debarment or suspension (31 CFR part 19) applies or whether the
organization is otherwise excluded from or ineligible for a federal
award; and (8) alternative funding sources available to the
organization, including amounts received from other grants and
contributors and the endowment and resources of the institution
sponsoring the organization.
Background
Section 7526 of the IRC authorizes the IRS, subject to the
availability of appropriated funds, to award qualified organizations
matching grants of up to $100,000 per year for the development,
expansion, or continuation of low income taxpayer clinics. A qualified
organization is one that represents low income taxpayers in
controversies with the IRS and informs ESL taxpayers of their taxpayer
rights and responsibilities and does not charge more than a nominal fee
for its services (except for reimbursement of actual costs incurred).
A clinic will be treated as representing low income taxpayers in
controversies with the IRS if at least 90 percent of the taxpayers
represented by the clinic have incomes that do not exceed 250 percent
of the federal poverty level. In addition, the amount in controversy
for the tax year to which the controversy relates generally cannot
exceed the amount specified in IRC section 7463 (currently $50,000) for
eligibility for special small tax case procedures in the United States
Tax Court. The IRS may award grants to qualified organizations to fund
one-year, two-year, or three-year project periods. Grant funds may be
awarded for start-up expenditures incurred by new clinics during the
grant year.
Mission Statement
Low Income Taxpayer Clinics ensure the fairness and integrity of
the tax system for taxpayers who are low income or speak English as a
second language by: providing pro bono representation on their behalf
in tax disputes with the IRS; educating them about their rights and
responsibilities as taxpayers; and identifying and advocating for
issues that impact these taxpayers.
Selection Consideration
Applications that pass the eligibility screening process will
undergo a Technical Evaluation and must receive a minimum score to be
considered further. Applications achieving the minimum score will be
subject to a Program Office evaluation. The final funding decision is
made by the National Taxpayer Advocate, unless recused. The costs of
preparing and submitting an application are the responsibility of each
applicant. Applications may be released in response to Freedom of
Information Act requests. Therefore, applicants must not include any
individual taxpayer information in the application narrative.
Each application will be given due consideration and the LITC
Program Office will notify each applicant once funding decisions have
been made.
Nina E. Olson,
National Taxpayer Advocate.
[FR Doc. 2019-05681 Filed 3-25-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4830-01-P
