Cal Poly’s Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic has 52 clients and 20 employees, who are mostly accounting students working in the clinic for their senior project.
Kat Gore
Special to Mustang News
Cal Poly’s Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) will be receiving an $85,000 grant this year, courtesy of the IRS.
Lisa Sperow, the LITC’s executive director, said the clinic will use the grant money to expand their services and pay for supplies, materials, student salaries, filing fees and their educational program.
“When our representative from the IRS called, he said that this was a really big deal because Congress cut funding overall to LITC programs,” Sperow said.
Congress gives IRS money to fund LITCs and the IRS divides it up throughout LITCs across the country, Sperow said.
Last year the program received $45,000, and this year it almost doubled — even though Congress cut money overall — Sperow said.
Cal Poly’s clinic is the only academic non-law school LITC in the country that can go to tax court, Sperow said. Currently the clinic has 52 clients and 20 employees. Most of the employees are accounting students working in the clinic for their senior project, Sperow said.
Accounting senior Lauren Trott is one of those students working at the clinic for her senior project. She said the clinic helps low-income families and individuals with tax disputes. Trott said the grant will allow the clinic to expand its services.
“It is so amazing because now we can grow and have more clients and help more people,” Trott said.
Business administration senior Sara Cois worked at LITC for her senior project and then was hired on as an employee.
“We are really excited about the grant, and it’s what I get paid off of,” Cois said. “It gave me the opportunity to work here.”
This is the clinic’s third year at Cal Poly and the third year in a row that they have gotten a grant.