Tax Justice Warriors

With transitioning between legal aid organizations, this has been a great time for me to clean up the various clients that I am connected with through the CAF Unit at the IRS.  Before leaving Kansas Legal Services, I tried to sever ties with various clients by submitting withdrawals to the CAF Unit.  Following that, I did a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to find out which clients were still connected to me.  In this episode, I discuss more details and learned just how many of the clients I still had connections with over the years.  Tune it to find out more!

There are Low Income Taxpayer Clinic practitioners that focus on more than tax issues.  They might be required to work on more than one grant project at a legal aid, so have a split such as 50%/50% between projects.  Or they might be teaching at a law school on other courses such as remedies and contracts.  Do clinicians like the variety or would they prefer to focus on taxes only?  Perhaps working in the other areas will enhance the work that the clinician is doing.

Plus, Tax Justice Warriors was included in a list of the 20 Best Tax Podcasts of 2021 by Welp Magazine.  Read the list of podcasts from the link here:

https://welpmagazine.com/20-best-tax-podcasts-of-2021/

Andrew Belter and I have moved between LITC organizations and we have a discussion about the related issues.  There are many things to think about when leaving a clinic and making things ready or starting at a clinic and getting into the learning curve.  We have a discussion of the need for transition plans, the LITC grant report, getting started in an organization and more.

A personal update!

I have changed jobs from the LITC at Kansas Legal Services to working at the LITC at Legal Aid of Western Missouri.

Additionally, I am Supervising Attorney for their Consumer Protection Unit. The unit assists low-income clients to retain ownership of their homes via bankruptcy, tax sale redemption contracts, loan modifications, notices of error and requests for information, and the like; represents clients in debt defense lawsuits and with other claims on behalf of consumers; and represents clients before the Internal Revenue Service and Missouri Department of Revenue with respect to income tax controversies (the LITC).

It has been a great opportunity and I am thrilled to be working with such a wonderful team!

You should be aware of Nina Olson if you are interested in taxes. She was National Taxpayer Advocate for 18 years, cementing the role for leadership of the Taxpayer Advocate Service. She has crossed the nation to get taxpayer feedback, testified before Congress, and submitted annual reports to Congress. Now, she is the Executive Director of the Center for Taxpayer Rights and plans their annual International Conference on Taxpayer Rights. She is an outspoken voice for disadvantaged taxpayers and it was a pleasure to speak with her for this extra-length episode 150 interview.

We discussed the following items - creativity and taxes, persistence to get major accomplishments in the tax system, carpooling with Keith Fogg, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, the state of current tax reform, the Taxpayer Roadmap, the dichotomy of the IRS regarding enforcement and benefits administration, the Center for Taxpayer Rights, learning from international tax administration for the United States, working in the tax system toward a “mission accomplished” goal, the goal of someday owning goats, and collecting dinosaurs.

I took a U.S. Tax Court case to trial and won! This episode discusses the events from the virtual calendar call of Wichita, Kansas to the decision posting on the Tax Court website.

Timeline:

February 11, 2021 – Tax Court Calendar Call (Wichita, KS)

February 23, 2021 – Tax Court Conference Call

March 10, 2021 – Trial

March 11, 2021 – Bench Opinion Oral Findings of Fact and Opinion

April 13, 2021 – Decision transcript posted on Tax Court website

Since there are a couple items that needed to be sealed for confidentiality (not correctly redacted), the entire case wound up being sealed on the Tax Court website.

I can share this link with you: https://taishofflaw.com/2021/04/13/new-jersey-divorces/

Just what does IRS Chief Counsel do? Well, they represent the IRS as their client. What does that mean? In this episode, I unpack different job items that IRS Chief Counsel does beyond go to U.S. Tax Court.

For example, Chief Counsel advise on different legal matters for other divisions of the IRS. What else do they do? Tune in to learn more.

For finding out all kinds of information on the Office of IRS Chief Counsel, head here:

https://www.jobs.irs.gov/resources/job-descriptions/irs-office-chief-counsel

In any profession, it is a curve ball when any skilled person is no longer available. This could be due to death, illness, disability, retirement or just plain turnover at the employer.

I looked into succession plans and have some guidance from LITC Administration. There are things to think about when it comes to case review, grant reporting, contacts for outreach and education, and more.

This week, a short episode looking at unexpected tax problems following a divorce.