Low-income taxpayers in need of legal assistance or advice can receive free or low-fee services at the University of New Mexico School of Law
A recent grant from the Internal Revenue Service Taxpayer Advocate Service partially supports the new low income taxpayer program in the nationally renowned UNM Clinical Law Program. Law students, under faculty supervision, provide representation for those in disputes with the IRS as well as taxpayer education.
Students are interviewing taxpayers with IRS disputes for case acceptance through Friday, Nov. 18. Case intake will resume in February 2006.
The taxpayer program is part of a larger UNM law school effort to boost economic development. UNM legal services do not include tax preparation. The clinic does not accept disputes with contested amounts exceeding $50,000 in any tax year. Whether an individual qualifies as a low-income taxpayer is based on total cash income of his or her family unit as determined by the clinic under federal guidelines.
New Mexico attorney Evan Hobbs was hired to help implement the new clinical program. He notes that law students will educate taxpayers about the earned income and childcare credits and other tax topics. Outreach to non-English speaking communities is also part of the overall economic development effort, Hobbs said.
Students give presentations at sites such as the Barelas Senior Center, said Paul Nathanson, clinic faculty. A talk is scheduled at the women’s prison in Grants Nov. 18. The clinic welcomes inquiries from community groups that may want to host presentations on tax and economic development issues.
“Although students cannot assist with individual tax preparation, they can speak to the issues broadly. Many taxpayers in New Mexico are eligible for the federal earned income credit but don’t take advantage of it because they are not aware of the credit or are daunted by the paperwork,” Hobbs said. “The average EIC claim is about $1,700. If an additional 1,000 state residents were to apply for the EIC, it would pump $1.7 million into the state economy.”
For more information, call the UNM School of Law Clinical Law Program, 277-5265.
Contact: Laurie Mellas, (505) 277-5915; e-mail: lmellas@unm.edu
Posted by scarr at November 4, 2005 10:01 AM