Federal grant programs / Department of the Treasury

Low Income Taxpayer Clinics (21.008)

Also known as Low-income taxpayer clinics

• Awarded, FY 2021 to 2025$83.9 million
• Grant awards663
• Typical award$100,000
• Awarded in FY 2025$18.5 million
• Size rank859 of 1824
• Type of assistanceProject grants

Key findings

• Annual funding rose from $11.7 million in fiscal 2021 to $18.5 million in fiscal 2025.
• It is the 859th largest of 1,824 federal grant programs by five-year awards.
• The 20 largest recipients received 23% of the money.
• Awards went to recipients in 50 states and territories.

What the program funds

The objective of the grant program is to provide low-income taxpayers with access to representation in controversies with the IRS, to advocate for improvement in IRS processes and services provided to taxpayers, and to educate low-income individuals and those for whom English is a second language about their tax rights and responsibilities.

From the federal Assistance Listing. Read the full listing on SAM.gov.

Open opportunities

No opportunity under this program is open or forecast on Grants.gov right now. Programs often post once a year, so the funding history below shows what to expect.

Rules from the program listing

Who can apply

Public nonprofit institution/organization (includes institutions of higher education and hospitals), Private nonprofit institution/organization (includes institutions of higher education and hospitals) Examples of a qualified 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 when necessary, refer to qualified volunteers to provide representation when the students cannot do so), 2. an organization exempt from tax under IRC section 501(a) whose employees and volunteers represent low-income taxpayers in controversies with the IRS, 3. an organization exempt from tax under IRC section 501(a) whose employees and volunteers refer to qualified representatives to provide representation, 4. an organization that operates a program to inform ESL taxpayers about their taxpayer rights and responsibilities, and 5. an organization that refers taxpayers to qualified representatives for controversy representation, but such organization must be tax-exempt under section 501(a); and an LITC may not charge more than a nominal fee for its services and organizations that provide representation are expected to also provide educational services to low income and ESL individuals.

What the money can and cannot pay for

Expenses must be allowable, allocable and reasonable and otherwise consistent with the 2 CFR Part 200 and spent in furtherance of the program; clinic may not use non-LITC funds used to pay indirect costs as matching funding sources. Examples of allowable and unallowable costs are provided in IRS Publication 3319, 2026 Grant Application Package and Guidelines

Matching requirements

This program has no statutory formula. Under this program, IRS will fund no more than 50% of the project’s total cost, which means that the applicant must cover at least 50% of the project’s total cost with non-federal resources. In other words, for every $1 an applicant receives in federal funding, the applicant must contribute at least $1 in non-federal resources. Qualified matching funds include (but are not limited to): • Cash contributions which may include funds from grants or foundations; • Legal Services Corporation funds; • Grantee expenditures of operating funds to pay for: 1. Salaries and fringe benefits for clinic staff; 2. Equipment and supplies used in the clinic; 3. Rent and utilities costs to operate the clinic; and • Other reasonable and necessary costs to operation of the program; Third-party in-kind contributions, may include: 1. The value of volunteer services furnished by professional and technical personnel, consultants, and other skilled and unskilled labor; 2. The fair market value of donated equipment and supplies; and 3. The fair rental value of donated space, if the space being offered is not owned by the sponsoring organization. Program income, including nominal fees charged, from activities that are directly related to the clinic’s objectives as well attorney fees can be program income and will be used for as matching funds.

Continue reading on SAM.gov

Deadlines

A notice will be published in the Federal Register announcing the grant opportunity. This opportunity will be listed on grants.gov with a link to apply. The 2027 LITC Grant Application Period will run from May 6, 2026, 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time, to July 17, 2026, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Extensions for submission are only granted in limited circumstances. More information can be found in the IRS Publication 3319 at https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p3319.pdf.

Award range and average, in the agency's words

Range of grant: $10,000 to $200,000.

Quoted from the program's federal Assistance Listing. The notice of funding opportunity is the official source for each competition's rules.

Who usually wins

Nonprofits received 73% of the money, colleges and universities 24% and businesses 0.1%.

By state

25 states have a page for this program: those that received at least $1 million or 10 awards.

Award amounts are federal obligations reported to USAspending.gov for fiscal 2021 to 2025; see how our data works.