Tax Clinic

Our Mission

The School of Law's Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic brings important services to the region.  Through the Clinic, selected law students provide free legal representation to low-income taxpayers who have post-filing controversies with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).  Such disputes might include audit representation, appeals, non-filers, collection issues, innocent spouse relief, and representation before the U.S. Tax Court.  In addition to this free legal representation, the students also engage in educational outreach to taxpayers with limited English proficiency, or who speak English as a second language (ESL), about their rights and responsibilities as U.S. taxpayers.  Students are supervised by Clinic Director Kari Munro, a former Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, who represented the United States in criminal prosecutions involving white collar crime, tax, narcotics, and violent crime.

The Clinic serves clients throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.  All of our services are provided free of charge, but due to the federal grant we receive, the Clinic can only provide legal representation to taxpayers whose income does not exceed 250% of the annual Federal Poverty Guidelines (specific amounts for eligibility guidelines are described here).  We can, however, provide educational outreach to all ESL taxpayers, regardless of income.

The School of Law's Tax Clinic is partially funded through a matching grant provided by the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic program, which is administered by the Internal Revenue Service's Taxpayer Advocate Service.  However, the Clinic is completely independent of, and not associated with, the IRS or the federal government.  The partial funding does not imply that the Tax Clinic has a preferential relationship with the IRS. 

Please note that the Tax Clinic does not handle transactional tax matters or routine tax return preparation.  If you need help with current year tax returns, the IRS has two programs - VITA and TCE - that provide seasonal preparation of federal income tax returns. Click here or call 1-800-906-9887 to find a VITA location near you. Click here or call 1-888-227-7669 to find a TCE location near you.

The Washington and Lee Tax Clinic Complies with IRS Publication 4025 (en español).  If you would like to see how the Tax Clinic can possibly help you, please take a look at this video.