I sat down here with Howard University School of Law Professor Alice M. Thomas. The interview was conducted at the ABA Section of Taxation May 2024 meeting in Washington, D.C.By Omeed Firouzi

I sat down here in February 2024 with Randy Goldson, a Temple Law student who took my Low Income Taxpayer Clinic class in fall 2023.By Omeed Firouzi

I sat down here in December 2023 with Hyo Jin Lee, a Temple Law student who took my Low Income Taxpayer Clinic class in fall 2023.By Omeed Firouzi

I sat down here with my LITC colleague Mary Ann David, Senior Attorney at Legal Services of Greater Miami. We spoke at the ABA Tax Section Midyear Meeting in San Francisco in January 2024.By Omeed Firouzi

I sat down here with Legal Aid of San Diego Senior Staff Attorney, a fellow LITC practitioner, at the annual LITC conference in Washington, D.C. in December 2023. Here is more information on the Gregory Evans Knoll Legacy Fund that Shahin mentioned.By Omeed Firouzi

As part of a series of interviews with colleagues in low Income taxpayer clinics from across the country and students in our clinic at Temple Law, I interviewed Cal Poly Low Income Taxpayer Clinic Director and Professor Lisa Sperow. I had the chance to sit down with Lisa at the annual Low Income Taxpayer Clinics Conference in Washington, D.C. in De…

As part of a series of interviews with colleagues in Low Income Taxpayer Clinics from across the country and students in our clinic at Temple Law, I interviewed Syracuse Law tax clinic director and Professor Rob Nassau. I had the chance to sit down with Rob at the annual Low Income Taxpayer Clinics Conference in Washington, D.C. in December 2023.…

In this episode, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I give thanks to so many people who support me and make my job easier.By Omeed Firouzi

This episode is a reflection on one year of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the impact President Biden's signature domestic legislative achievement has had on taxpayers and tax practitioners.By Omeed Firouzi

I discuss in the episode a major professional development: I am now a Professor of Practice and Director of the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic at Temple University Beasley School of Law! After five wonderful years at Philadelphia Legal Assistance Taxpayer Support Clinic, I am now pursuing this exciting opportunity. I am eager to represent clients acros…

This episode is a discussion of how workers can challenge their misclassification as independent contractors through the IRS SS-8 process. I discuss best practices for how practitioners can identify, address, and remedy misclassification on behalf of clients. I discuss the IRS procedures, including the accurate reporting of misclassification income…

In this episode, I discussed what I learned at the ABA Tax Section May 2023 Meeting in Washington, D.C. I mentioned several important sessions I attended and how I had the chance to ask IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel a question during his closing plenary remarks. This episode also includes interviews I conducted, at the conference, with two great c…

In this episode, I break down the 2023 tax filing season as I offer reflections on how the $80 billion in additional funding for the IRS, from the Inflation Reduction Act, appears to have notably improved service for taxpayers and tax practitioners. I also delve into the history of the fedreal refund statute of limitations as it is an issue that be…

At the Annual Low Income Taxpayer Clinics Conference in Phoenix on December 7, 2022, I had the privilege of sitting down with Professor Keith Fogg, a mentor and colleague. Keith practiced at the IRS Office of Chief Counsel for over 30 years before he began an academic career in 2007 first running the Villanova Law Federal Tax Clinic and then runnin…

At the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Taxation Midyear Meeting in San Diego on February 10, 2023, I sat down with one of my mentors, former National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson, a tax law titan and legend thanks to her nearly two decades of service leading the Taxpayer Advocate Service, and ABA Christine A. Brunswick Fellow Anna Gooch, …

Omeed sits down here with National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins at the 2023 Annual Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) Grantee Conference in Phoenix, Arizona on December 8, 2022. Collins spoke about the difficulties taxpayers and tax practitioners faced with the IRS in 2022. She also discussed how her office is working to address these problems. Si…

From William Schmidt- I am going from being a Clinic Director for Low Income Taxpayer Clinics to working for the Kansas City branch of the IRS Office of Chief Counsel (Small Business/Self-Employed) as a Tax Attorney. Today’s episode is a short one as I make my farewells. In September, I finished working for the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic and legal …

If you have been following news from the Inflation Reduction Act, you probably heard news that the IRS received nearly $80 billion in funding over the next decade. There have been reactions of all kinds. In this episode, I look at how the funding is divided among the departments at the IRS. Some of the goals are examinations of high-income individu…

On this episode, an update on what is going on in Kansas City relating to tax issues. Also, a talk about the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and its funding of the IRS. At the time of recording, the Act had passed the Senate. At the time of posting, it has also passed the House and is expected to go to President Biden to sign into law in the next w…

A short episode about balancing my workload between supervision and managing the tax clinic. In order to balance the workload, it is necessary to reduce the number of cases and I talk about what I am doing to get there.By William Schmidt

On May 12 through 14, 2022, the American Bar Association Section of Taxation held the 2022 May Tax Meeting. It was a hybrid meeting, the first in-person meeting for the Section since 2020. Portions of the meeting were also broadcast virtually. There was a large group gathered and it seemed that people were happy to be meeting in person again. Willi…

This episode has a whole variety of topics: The offer in compromise forms are now updated – what about the grace period to transition to sending the new forms to the IRS? How many years of tax returns need to be submitted for the taxpayer to be compliant? The local standards for 2022 have been released. These are to be used for offers in compromise…

The Boechler case before the Supreme Court was previously discussed in episode 173. In the case, the question before the Supreme Court was whether the Tax Court correctly treated the deadline in this collection due process case as jurisdictional. Spoiler – the Supreme Court did decide in the taxpayer’s favor that the deadline was not jurisdictional…

Welcome to a further discussion from William Schmidt (Legal Aid of Western Missouri) and Andrew Belter (Wisconsin JudiCare) on issues when calling the Practitioner Priority Service. This time, there are issues when representing a client who is listed as the secondary person on the tax return. Some of are clients are widows or divorced. Recently, th…

Andrew Belter and William Schmidt talked through the different instances when to sign for clients on submissions to the IRS or the Tax Court. Some forms allow for either a taxpayer or their attorney to sign. However, clients don’t always get the forms to us or keep in contact close to the deadlines. What are some of the ethical considerations with …

Andrew Belter and William Schmidt discuss some recent topics of concern for Low Income Taxpayer Clinics. For one, Andrew brings up the difficulties with regard to reaching the IRS on the phones to get help for clients. Both Andrew and William talk about their recent attempts to find assistance for clients by calling the IRS. Then, William brings up…

This week, Andrew Belter and William Schmidt look at some U.S. Tax Court topics. First, the case Boechler v. Commissioner is before the U.S. Supreme Court where they have heard oral arguments. In brief, an individual was a day late and missed the statutory deadline for a Collection Due Process hearing. The Tax Court ruled that there was a strict ju…

ID.me is a recent platform that the IRS was using as an online identity verification process for taxpayers to access self-help tools. To verify their identity with ID.me, taxpayers needed to provide a photo of an identity document such as a driver's license, state ID or passport. They also needed to take a selfie with a smartphone or a computer wit…

Well, before we started we didn’t think we had anything to talk about! Andrew Belter (Wisconsin Judicare) and William Schmidt (Legal Aid of Western Missouri) caught up on recent tax news as the tax season is underway. Access to transcripts with the CAF Unit and IRS budget restrictions from Congress are some of the topics. The main portion of this e…

Welcome to the tax filing season! Andrew Belter and William Schmidt start with a discussion of reconciling the child tax credit with Letter 6419. From there, we turn to differences between state and federal taxes. For one, can you still find paper copies of your state tax forms at your local public library? Who is faster at processing paper tax ret…

Happy New Year 2022! Andrew Belter and William Schmidt discuss what the year will hold regarding taxes. The individual tax season will begin on January 24 and is expected to last through April 18 this year. We discuss our outlook on the upcoming tax season and other items for the year. This tax filing season, a difference will be reconciliation of …

Andrew Belter and William Schmidt do an end of year discussion. They talk about the LITC conference and how the year has been working with the IRS. Along with that, they discuss how the year went – moving from one LITC to another for each of them and some self-reflection on how outreach progressed during the year.…

On this episode, Andrew Belter and William Schmidt discuss issues that the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) is having in 2021. Due to the IRS being backed up, taxpayers are contacting TAS for assistance. While TAS normally provides assistance to taxpayers, the IRS and TAS are being contacted by taxpayers in record numbers. As a result, TAS is diffic…

On this episode, Andrew Belter and William Schmidt review offers in compromise – what are some of the basics in making an offer and what are the types of offers? There is also a discussion of offset bypass refunds – working with the Taxpayer Advocate Service to try and get a refund for a client who owes a past-due government debt. Next, we turn to …

The IRS uses Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to quickly get information to the public regarding hot topics concerning taxes. Most recently, the IRS has been using FAQs regarding stimulus payments and the advance child tax credit. The IRS has been getting the word out about these topics to assist taxpayers to receive payments they are entitled to …

Happy Halloween! No tricks this time, just a treat. This time we have a discussion of the filing status on tax returns. William Schmidt asks Andrew Belter – what is the need for listing whether you are married or single on the tax return? When the tax return started, traditional values supported marriage incentives. Now, there have been changes in …

Andrew Belter and William Schmidt discuss their experiences with withdrawing from cases in the U.S. Tax Court. Since it is necessary to receive court approval for an attorney to withdraw from a case, both of your hosts provide guidance on how to navigate what is required to be withdraw from a case when your client is no longer cooperating with you.…

Last episode, William Schmidt talked on his own and gave the setup for the current episode. Now, he is joined by Andrew Belter to break down the Tax Court’s virtual visit to Kansas City and the 2021 American Bar Association Tax Section Virtual Fall Tax Meeting. In Kansas City’s virtual Tax Court, learn more about the extra guests that appeared duri…

This episode is providing a quick update on some items that William Schmidt is involved with. For starters, there is Tax Court for Kansas City scheduled the week of September 20 and coming the week of January 24. Next, William is involved with the Individual and Family Taxation Committee and gives a preview of their panel. Last, William is on a pan…

Andrew Belter and William Schmidt have a discussion on two items regarding client deadlines in taxes. -What to do when a client shows up with a short deadline for the IRS or Tax Court? This might put an attorney in a bind regarding the work to do in a short amount of time. Entering an appearance in court is easy for an attorney to do, but requires …

Andrew Belter and William Schmidt discuss some items that have been happening at Legal Aid of Western Missouri (LAWMO). Last year, LAWMO set up a help line for people needing help getting their stimulus/Economic Impact Payments. An article about the help line went viral and LAWMO wound up getting hundreds of applicants. Now, LAWMO has a grant for a…

I wanted to pass on the information that I need to do a format shift for Tax Justice Warriors. I have been thinking it would be good to have a co-host on the show to bring in more conversations on current tax topics. I have enlisted frequent guest Andrew Belter, LITC Program Director at Wisconsin Judicare, to be a co-host so we are going to try and…

Andrew Belter - is he guest or co-host or…is he both? Andrew Belter, Clinic Director of the LITC at Wisconsin Judicare joins William Schmidt of the LITC at Legal Aid of Western Missouri to discuss the child tax credit. What are some of the issues for the child tax credit for divorced or separated parents? Is there a safe harbor for people who shoul…

The IRS is hosting advance child tax credit free tax prep days to assist taxpayers in filing 2020 tax returns in order to be eligible for the child tax credit in 12 select cities. Turnout was low on June 25 and 26 so I am providing information to boost turnout on July 9 and 10. For information, go to this website: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/advan…

I wanted to let you know about a recent publication from the American Bar Association. It is an essential reference for any tax controversy or Low Income Taxpayer Clinic worker. I was co-author of chapter 5 for this edition, "Securing Information from the IRS by Taxpayers." Effectively Representing Your Client Before the IRS, 8th EditionEdited by C…

Two big updates from the IRS came out this week: The Advance Child Tax Credit Non-Filer Portal is now available The non-filer portal is now available and further online tools will assist taxpayers to get the advance child tax credit this year. Payments will begin on July 15 and will continue around the 15th of the month until the end of 2021. IRS C…

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…

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…

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 …

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, n…