From an attorney:

Subject: EIC disallowance

Dear Mr. Kerstetter:

Regarding your blog reader who inquired about challenging the disallowance of the EIC, another alternative would be to contact the nearest law school.  Many law schools offer low-income tax law assistance and can help with a Tax Court petition.  The matter will probably be resolved before it gets to litigation, and the representation is free.  Not all taxpayers qualify, and not all schools have this program, but it is an effective recourse for a taxpayer with limited means.

My Reply:

That's a very good idea, which I will pass along.

That sounds like a slightly more technical version of the IRS's VITA program, where I got my start in the tax prep profession over 30 years ago while an accounting student in college. 

Thanks for sharing that idea.

Kerry Kerstetter

 Follow-Up:

I appreciate your reply.  I did both VITA and tax law clinic as a law student at Quinnipiac and enjoyed both of them.  The clinic requires students to focus much more on tax procedure than on aspects of the return.  If you want more information on these programs, I would suggest asking Prof. Paul Caron of the TaxProf Blog; he probably can get you a list of schools that offer assistance to low-income taxpayers.  Thank you for your work on your sites; they're always enjoyable.

 

 

- posted by Kerry M. Kerstetter, MBA~CPA~ATP~ATA @ 2/28/2006 08:19:00 PM Send this post: