Low Income Taxpayer Clinic 2025 Highlights
LITC participants at taxpayer outreach event at Second Chance Center, September 25, 2025.
Last year, the University of Denver's Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) released $449,530 in refunds from the IRS to its clients – the highest dollar amount refunded in 2024 by any of the 138 clinics in the LITC program nationwide, according to the IRS.
So far in 2025, the Sturm College of Law LITC enrolled 29 students who represented 226 clients before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Colorado Department of Revenue. Our students successfully reduced their clients’ tax liabilities by $510,025 while obtaining an additional $73,531 in refunds.
Notable successes included two cases in the United States Tax Court where the IRS fully conceded the cases. In these two cases, the taxpayers did not owe any additional tax to the IRS.
LITC students attended two Tax Court calendar calls where they advised and assisted pro se taxpayers. The clinic also hosted a Taxpayer Settlement Day where clinic students were able to work with taxpayers and act as mediators in order to reach a settlement with the Internal Revenue Service. This was a wonderful learning experience where the students were able practice client interviewing skills, work through the Internal Revenue Code, and evaluate client records.
Our students also gave educational presentations on tax topics to 11 different community organizations and provided tax education to more than 140 Colorado taxpayers.
Finally, the LITC spearheaded two Taxpayer Outreach events where we partnered with the Second Chance Center, Denver Asset Building Coalition, University of Wyoming, and Greenspoon Marder to assist taxpayers with filing their tax returns to receive their 2021 IRS Economic Impact Payments (COVID Stimulus Check) and the 2024 Colorado TABOR refund.
LITC Faculty Highlights
Professor Sabrina Strand, director of the LITC, was named a 2025-2026 John S. Nolan Fellow by the ABA Tax Section and was one of two professors named the 2025 DU Faculty Career Champion Award Winner for the Sturm College of Law. Strand's recent speaking engagements included the topics "How to Represent Taxpayers with Differing Beliefs than Your Own" (Standards of Tax Practice) at the ABA Tax Section May 2025 meeting in Washington, DC, and "Examining Disparate Impact in Tax Controversy" (Tax Bridge to Practice) at the ABA Tax Section February 2025 mid-year meeting in Los Angeles.
Professor Heather Hill, LITC staff attorney, was named the 2025-2027 American Bar Association (ABA) Tax Analysts Public Service Fellow by the ABA Tax Section.
