The first thing clients see when they enter the Washington and Lee School of Law’s tax clinic is a bulletin board adorned with thank you cards. 

Some messages are scrawled on neon sticky notes, sharing lighthearted quips such as “Thanks for standing up to the IRS!” Others are more serious, thanking student volunteers for “all you’ve done and continue to do” and describing how they “absolutely make a difference” in the Rockbridge County community. 

But every note relates to a common theme: The free tax services that Washington and Lee students provide fill a gap left by accountants and attorneys with big sticker prices. 

At the tax clinic, third-year law students provide free legal representation to low-income taxpayers who need to resolve tax-filing problems, called “controversies,” with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The office in Sydney Lewis Hall is one small part of a nationwide network called the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic program (LITC), which is administered by the IRS’s Taxpayer Advocate Service.

Across the Wilson Field Footbridge, undergraduate students at the Williams School run a branch of the IRS’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program (VITA), where they help low-income families prepare their tax returns. Advised by Assistant Professor of Accounting Ehi Rajsky, the students become IRS-certified volunteers and offer free tax advice to clients across Rockbridge County.  

“Taxes are not exciting, as you would think. The process itself is repetitive,” Rajsky said as she laughed. “The fulfillment comes from giving back to the community, and for me, the excitement comes from just seeing the students show what they can do.”

Low-income taxpayers tend to understand the tax system less than high-income taxpayers, according to a 2024 National Tax Literacy Poll. The study found that higher proficiency in tax knowledge correlates with higher earnings and higher educational attainment. Only 2% of Americans have proficient tax knowledge — meaning the ability to answer 90% or more of the poll’s tax questions correctly — the study found. 

At the same time, low-income taxpayers often don’t have the necessary resources to get financial and legal advice, Rajsky said. An average tax preparation service costs about $300, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and legal fees add up fast when IRS controversies make their way to tax court. 

Any tax process can be daunting without advice from a professional, said Kari Munro, the acting director of the Law School’s tax clinic. 

“Having tax problems is really terrifying for people, right?” Munro said. “I think because finances are such a central focus of most working families, having a tax liability of even as little as $500 can really affect a household’s well-being.”

Rajsky said the Williams School’s VITA program has been growing to meet locals’ demand for tax help. During the program’s first fully operational tax season in winter 2023, VITA students filed 35 returns. Last winter, they filed more than 50. This year, Rajsky said, their goal is 100. 

The university houses the only VITA site in Rockbridge County, and the only VITA site with Spanish translation services in a 50-mile radius, according to the IRS’s database of VITA clinics. 

This month, undergraduate students are busy completing practice tax returns to prepare for their IRS certification test, said Natalie Beinlich, ’25 — one of 16 students taking ACCT-452 to become a VITA volunteer. W&L’s VITA program will open to clients on Jan. 31 and remain open throughout tax season. The program is a helpful stepping stone for accounting majors who plan to begin a career in public accounting after graduation, Beinlich said. 

“It’s really good exposure to understand the applications of what we’ve learned in tax class and how the IRS operates,” she said. “And it’s just nice to give back to the community.”

Once earning her certification, Beinlich will become part of a network of about 90,000 VITA volunteers across the country, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Each is trained to help low-income families accurately file their taxes and claim deductions applicable to them, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit. 

Meanwhile, at the Law School campus, third-year students are fielding LITC calls and advising clients on how to resolve tax controversies with the IRS. The only other LITCs in Virginia are located in Fairfax and Richmond, according to a 2024 IRS report. That keeps W&L’s clinic consistently busy, Munro said — it serves between 50 and 75 clients at any given time. 

The law students are responsible for running the clinic throughout the academic year, attending weekly seminars on tax controversy procedures, and conducting educational outreach on citizens’ tax rights. Outreach ranges from helping local high school students and W&L undergraduates “learn the tax part of adulting” to providing tax classes to incarcerated people close to being released from prison, Munro said.

The Law School’s tax clinic was established over 10 years ago by Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Michelle Drumble. With her guidance and the administrative help of Senior Legal Assistant Brie Kleinert, the tax clinic has remained the only LITC stronghold in western Virginia, Munro said. 

But LITCs can’t fill every gap in taxation services, Munro said. Due to the federal grant the tax clinic receives, its students can only provide free legal representation to taxpayers whose income does not exceed 250% of the annual federal poverty guidelines — that’s $78,000 for a family of four. Munro said those guidelines mean she has to turn away many middle-class families who “have tax problems they really can’t afford to hire a private attorney for.”

Munro said she hopes her students’ experiences at the clinic inspire them to participate in pro bono tax representation once they graduate and become attorneys. She also hopes that they walk away with an understanding of “how changes in tax policy affect families and the economy as a whole.”

“What is rewarding for me is to watch these students take on some real independence, not only in the way that they’re dealing with their clients, but their understanding of the legal issues that are affecting our clients,” Munro said.