Tax Talk: Winter 2000

TAX TALK

Published by the Section of Taxation of the Maryland State Bar Association, Inc.

Mary Beth Beattie, Chair · Marilyn E. Nelson, Editor

Volume VIII Number 3

Winter 2000

From The Chair

Mary Beth Beattie

The beginning of a new year is typically a time when we turn our attention to our plans and goals for the year. We concentrate on our marketing plans, compose our mission statements, update our technology, and improve our practices to better serve our clients. What better time than New Year 2000 to set a new goal for participating in pro bono legal service.

The Tax Section has recently endorsed proposed changes to Rule 6.1 of the Maryland Lawyers’ Rules of Professional Conduct, which would encourage Maryland lawyers to devote at least 50 hours each year to pro bono service. The Rule suggests that the majority of that time be legal work. This means that while service to charitable organizations, community groups, and professional associations is certainly encouraged, the emphasis would be placed on devoting the majority of the 50 hours per year rendering legal services on a pro bono basis. How can tax attorneys, who typically represent affluent clients and profitable businesses, find meaningful pro bono work? Read on.

The Tax Section currently sponsors two pro bono programs that need volunteers and that meet the requirements of the proposed rule changes. First, the award-winning Earned Income Credit Project provides a series of tax clinics held on Saturdays in February during which members of the Tax Section prepare tax returns for low-income wage earners in the Baltimore area who qualify for the earned income tax credit. All volunteers attend a training session where they learn how to interview the clients and prepare the tax

returns, and they receive information on how the clinics are conducted. Over the years, the Earned Income Credit Project has been a rewarding and worthwhile experience for the participating Tax Section members and the public that the project serves. If you are interested in participating in the upcoming Earned Income Credit Project, please call the Tax Section’s Pro Bono Committee Chair, Brian J. O’Connor, at 410-244-7863 or Winnie Borden, Executive Director of MVLS, at 410-539-6800 before January 22, 2000.

The second program, initiated in 1999, is the IRS Grant Program. The Internal Revenue Service is expected to award funds again this year to organize and maintain tax clinics at both the University of Baltimore and the University of Maryland Law Schools to assist low-income taxpayers in disputes with the IRS. MVLS (Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service) and the Tax Section oversee the program and will be assisting students with training and supervision as needed. As the clinics are still in the planning stage, volunteer attorneys are urgently needed now to handle incoming dispute cases on a pro bono basis. Although attorneys ~experienced in disputes with the IRS are welcome, prior experience in handling these matters is not a prerequisite to taking a case. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact the Tax Section’s IRS Grant Program Chair, Richard Chishoim, at 301-986-2200, or Winnie Borden, Executive Director of MVLS, at 410-539-6800.

· Make a New Year’s resolution for 2000. Volunteer to participate in a Tax Section-sponsored pro bono program this year.

Note: The Maryland Coalition for Civil Justice and the People’s Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland proposed the changes to Rule 6.1. If you would like more information on the proposed changes, please contact Sharon E. Goldsmith, People’s Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland, at 410-837-9379. The Maryland Judicial Commission on Pro Bono, which is currently examining similar rule changes, is expected to issue its report early this year.