[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 58 (Tuesday, March 26, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11396-11397]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-05681]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Internal Revenue Service


Low Income Taxpayer Clinic Grant Program; Availability of 2019 
Supplemental Grant Application Period

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This document contains a Notice that the IRS is accepting 
applications from qualified organizations for a part-year Low Income 
Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) matching grant to provide representation to low 
income taxpayers and education about taxpayer rights and 
responsibilities to individuals who speak English as a second language 
(ESL taxpayers) in certain identified geographic areas. The grant will 
cover the last five months of the 2019 grant year, from August 1, 2019, 
through December 31, 2019. The supplemental application period shall 
run from March 19, 2019, to April 18, 2019.

DATES: An organization applying for part-year funding for the 2019 
grant year must submit its application electronically at 
www.grants.gov. All organizations must use the funding number of TREAS-
GRANTS-052019-002, and applications must be filed electronically by 
11:59 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time) on April 18, 2019. The Federal 
Financial Assistance program number is 21.008. See https://beta.sam.gov/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bill Beard at (949) 575-6200 (not a 
toll-free number) or by email at [email protected]. The LITC 
Program Office is located at: IRS, Taxpayer Advocate Service, LITC 
Grant Program Administration Office, TA: LITC, 1111 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Room 1034, Washington, DC 20224. Copies of the 2019 Grant 
Application Package and Guidelines, IRS Publication 3319 (Rev. 5-2018), 
can be downloaded from the IRS internet site at www.irs.gov/advocate or 
ordered by calling the IRS Distribution Center toll-free at 1-800-829-
3676.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In Public Law 116-6, Congress appropriated 
$12,000,000 for low income taxpayer clinic grants for fiscal year 2019. 
Despite the IRS's efforts to foster parity in availability and 
accessibility in the selection of organizations receiving LITC matching 
grants and the continued increase in clinic services nationwide, there 
remain communities that are underrepresented by clinics, and 
consequently, not all funds

[[Page 11397]]

appropriated for the LITC Program have been awarded. For the 
supplemental application period, the IRS will focus on geographic areas 
where there is limited or no clinic representation.
    The IRS will award up to $300,000 in funding to qualifying 
organizations, subject to the limitations of Internal Revenue Code 
(IRC) section 7526. A qualifying organization may receive a matching 
grant of up to $100,000 per year. Organizations currently receiving a 
grant are not eligible to apply during this supplemental application 
period. Grant funds may be awarded for start-up expenditures incurred 
during the grant year. The selection process for these part-year grants 
may not be complete before the beginning of the application period for 
the 2020 grant year; thus, applicants for a part-year grant will be 
expected to submit a separate application for full-year funding for the 
2020 grant year during the 2020 grant application period, when 
announced later this year, with an anticipated opening on May 1, 2019.
    Below is a list that contains the identified underserved geographic 
areas:

Hawaii
Montana
North Dakota
Puerto Rico
West Virginia
Wyoming

    Qualifying organizations that provide representation to low income 
individual taxpayers involved in a tax controversy with the IRS and 
educate ESL taxpayers about their rights and responsibilities under the 
IRC are eligible for a grant. An LITC must provide services for free or 
for no more than a nominal fee. Examples of qualifying organizations 
include (1) a clinical program at an accredited law, business, or 
accounting school whose students represent low income taxpayers in tax 
controversies with the IRS and (2) an organization exempt from tax 
under IRC section 501(a) whose employees and volunteers represent low 
income taxpayers in controversies with the IRS and may also make 
referrals to qualified volunteers to provide representation.
    In determining whether to award a grant, the IRS will consider a 
variety of factors, including: (1) The number of taxpayers who will be 
assisted by the organization, including the number of ESL taxpayers in 
that geographic area; (2) the existence of other LITCs assisting the 
same population of low income and ESL taxpayers; (3) the quality of the 
program offered by the organization, including the qualifications of 
its administrators and qualified representatives, and its record, if 
any, in providing representation services to low income taxpayers; (4) 
the quality of the application, including the reasonableness of the 
proposed budget; (5) the organization's compliance with all federal tax 
obligations (filing and payment); (6) the organization's compliance 
with all federal nontax monetary obligations (filing and payment); (7) 
whether debarment or suspension (31 CFR part 19) applies or whether the 
organization is otherwise excluded from or ineligible for a federal 
award; and (8) alternative funding sources available to the 
organization, including amounts received from other grants and 
contributors and the endowment and resources of the institution 
sponsoring the organization.

Background

    Section 7526 of the IRC authorizes the IRS, subject to the 
availability of appropriated funds, to award qualified organizations 
matching grants of up to $100,000 per year for the development, 
expansion, or continuation of low income taxpayer clinics. A qualified 
organization is one that represents low income taxpayers in 
controversies with the IRS and informs ESL taxpayers of their taxpayer 
rights and responsibilities and does not charge more than a nominal fee 
for its services (except for reimbursement of actual costs incurred).
    A clinic will be treated as representing low income taxpayers in 
controversies with the IRS if at least 90 percent of the taxpayers 
represented by the clinic have incomes that do not exceed 250 percent 
of the federal poverty level. In addition, the amount in controversy 
for the tax year to which the controversy relates generally cannot 
exceed the amount specified in IRC section 7463 (currently $50,000) for 
eligibility for special small tax case procedures in the United States 
Tax Court. The IRS may award grants to qualified organizations to fund 
one-year, two-year, or three-year project periods. Grant funds may be 
awarded for start-up expenditures incurred by new clinics during the 
grant year.

Mission Statement

    Low Income Taxpayer Clinics ensure the fairness and integrity of 
the tax system for taxpayers who are low income or speak English as a 
second language by: providing pro bono representation on their behalf 
in tax disputes with the IRS; educating them about their rights and 
responsibilities as taxpayers; and identifying and advocating for 
issues that impact these taxpayers.

Selection Consideration

    Applications that pass the eligibility screening process will 
undergo a Technical Evaluation and must receive a minimum score to be 
considered further. Applications achieving the minimum score will be 
subject to a Program Office evaluation. The final funding decision is 
made by the National Taxpayer Advocate, unless recused. The costs of 
preparing and submitting an application are the responsibility of each 
applicant. Applications may be released in response to Freedom of 
Information Act requests. Therefore, applicants must not include any 
individual taxpayer information in the application narrative.
    Each application will be given due consideration and the LITC 
Program Office will notify each applicant once funding decisions have 
been made.

Nina E. Olson,
National Taxpayer Advocate.
[FR Doc. 2019-05681 Filed 3-25-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4830-01-P