Santa Clara University Creates Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic

Santa Clara University School of Law has established the area’s first clinic providing free assistance to low-income taxpayers who have disputes with the Internal Revenue Service.

The Santa Clara University School of Law Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic will be headed by Caroline Tso Chen, previously a senior attorney with the Office of Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service in San Jose.

Through the clinic, SCU law students will provide counsel and advice to clients and represent the clients’ cases before the IRS and in Tax Court. The IRS and the Tax Court allow such student-attorney representation from law school-affiliated clinics led by a qualified supervising attorney.

Qualifying clients generally must not earn more than certain amounts (currently about $27,000 for a single person or $56,000 for a family of four). [Santa Clara University]