A. LITC GRANT PROGRAM PRIORITIES

LITCs Provide Representation, Education, and Advocacy

LITCs ensure the fairness and integrity of the tax system for taxpayers who are low-income or speak ESL by:

n Providing pro bono representation on their behalf in tax disputes with the IRS;

n Educating them about their rights and responsibilities as taxpayers; and

n Identifying and advocating for issues that impact these taxpayers.

LITCs must:

n Provide dollar-for-dollar matching funds; and

n Offer services for free or for a nominal fee. See Section I.D, Key Terms and Definitions.

Taxpayer Bill of Rights

In December 2015, Congress enacted the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TBOR) ¹ in Internal Revenue Code (IRC) § 7803(a)(3). TBOR lists rights that already existed in the IRC, putting them in simple language and grouping them into ten fundamental rights. One of the ten fundamental rights is the right to retain representation, ² meaning taxpayers have the right to retain an authorized representative to represent them in interactions with the IRS. Taxpayers who are unable to afford representation have the right to be informed of their potential eligibility for free or low-cost assistance from an LITC so that achieving a correct outcome in an IRS dispute does not depend on a taxpayer’s ability to pay for representation.

LITC Program Coverage

The IRS continues to expand access to clinic services through onboarding new clinics and allowing for expanded service delivery models geared to reach areas where the IRS has been unable to attract qualified applicants. Special consideration will be given to applicants from the following states where there is currently no LITC physically located within the state: Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Nevada, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. For Nevada and South Dakota, clinics in neighboring states provide coverage, but in the remaining states, assistance is limited and delivered primarily through remote clinics.

1 See Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016, Pub. L. No. 114-113, Division Q, § 401, 129 Stat. 2242, 3117 (Dec. 18, 2015). 2 See IRC § 7803(a)(3)(I).

LOW INCOME TAXPAYER CLINICS 1

In addition, some areas within states have limited or no coverage including:

n Arizona: Gila County

n Florida: Glades County, Hardee County, Hendry County, Hernando County, Highlands County, Indian

River County, Martin County, Okeechobee County, Sumter County

n Pennsylvania: Lehigh County, Northampton County

n Tennessee: Fayette County, Lauderdale County, Tipton County

Figure 1

The Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) has developed an interactive map at https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/ LITC-map to help identify areas of need. The map provides county level data, including the estimated number of taxpayers with incomes at or below 250% of the poverty level; the number of compliance activities (common to low-income taxpayers) conducted by the IRS in that county; and the most common type of compliance activity in that community. Users can zoom in on specific locations, and hovering over a county will display key metrics for that area. ³

3 The map uses Housing and Urban Development, Census, and IRS data. These metrics include LITC/Count of LITCs: Name of the LITC or count of the LITCs providing service in a county; Population: 2020 Census Population (CT uses 2024 data for planning regions); Low-Income Taxpayers: Count of Tax Year 2024 returns filed with AGI below 250% of the Federal Poverty Level; Compliance Actions: Count of identified low-income taxpayers with a compliance action in 2024; Most Prevalent Compliance Action: Most prevalent type of IRS compliance action; and Limited English Proficiency: 2024 Census estimate of the percent of the population having limited English proficiency.

2 LOW INCOME TAXPAYER CLINICS

LITC Program Description

Important Dates for 2026 LITC Grant Program