On Monday, the Asian American Civic Association (AACA) announced the launch of the AACA Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) to support English as a second language speakers and low-income individuals who need assistance resolving tax disputes with the IRS. Headquartered at the AACA office on Tyler Street in Chinatown, the AACA LITC prides itself in being the only LITC in Massachusetts dedicated to supporting the Asian community, with specialized translation services in Chinese, Vietnamese, and more in development.
Though funded partially by the IRS, LITCs are independent from the IRS and the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS). The LITC Program was created to protect taxpayer rights by providing low-income and ESL taxpayers access to legal representation. LITC programs first began as clinical programs in the 1970s to provide law students hands-on experience working with underrepresented individuals with real-life legal issues. The IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 spurred growth of LITCs as the statute provided up to a $100,000 grants per calendar year to develop, expand, or continue the operation of a qualified LITC. Grant recipients are generally legal services organizations, academic institutions, or community-based nonprofit organizations.
In the previous grant year, the LITC Program awarded $11.8 million in grants to 131 organizations across the United States, with five receiving an award for the first time. The AACA LITC was chosen as a new award recipient as there was a recognized gap in serving Asian language speaking taxpayers in Massachusetts and beyond. In California, these are five LITCs that specify an Asian language in their services.
Most cases with which LITCs help taxpayers involve collection, refund, and status issues. In 2021, LITCs nationally represented 19,413 taxpayers with an IRS tax controversy, secured over $5.8 million refunds for low-income taxpayers, and decreased or corrected over $116 million in liabilities. Nationally, over 1,400 volunteers logged 42,000 volunteer hours as they provided representation, education, and advocacy for low-income ESL taxpayers.
Executive Director of AACA LITC, Richard Soo Hoo, CPA, has high aspirations for the reach and impact of the clinic, stating that “ Our goal is to bring high-level professional services to the underserved Asian community. IRS audits can be intimidating, but what people don’t understand is that often an IRS notice is triggered by a computer based on set algorithms. As a child of immigrants myself, I know the inclination to want to set those notices aside hoping they will just go away. I want to use my expertise to provide solutions and decrease the feelings of intimidation that immigrants may feel when interacting with the IRS.” With its mission to serve the Asian community and others with tax representation support, the AACA LITC will consist of a volunteer base of attorneys, certified public accountants (CPAs), interpreters, and students.
The 2021 tax return season is expected to be a messy and frustrating experience. With staffing shortages and paperwork backlogs, Treasury Department officials have warned that the IRS will struggle with answering calls from taxpayers with questions. In the first half of last year, the IRS had a ratio of one employee for every 16,000 calls received from taxpayers. It will be a complex season, as taxpayers will be required to report any pandemic-related economic impact payments and child tax credit payments received from the government in their filings. Given limited IRS resources, LITCs will play an important role in demystifying the tax dispute process.
The AACA LITC is currently building out its team of staff and volunteers through outreach to law firms, accounting programs, and other institutions. Soo Hoo hopes to mentor a new generation of auditors and lawyers with hands-on learning as they support the community. With capabilities to help remotely through video technologies, the AACA LITC aspires to serve the Asian population in Massachusetts and beyond. For additional information on how you can volunteer or gain access to AACA LITC services, please reach out to Wenchen Wang, wwang@aaca-boston.org.
SAMPAN, published by the nonprofit Asian American Civic Association, is the only bilingual Chinese-English newspaper in New England, acting as a bridge between Asian American community organizations and individuals in the Greater Boston area. It is published biweekly and distributed free-of-charge throughout metro Boston; it is also delivered to as far away as Hawaii.
