Federal Tax Clinic

The Federal Tax Clinic was established in 2000 to assist low-income individuals throughout Western Washington resolve disputes with the Internal Revenue Service. The federally-funded clinic offers this assistance as a public service and as a means of training law students in tax practice. In 2009, the clinic received an IRS funding grant, the largest given to any clinic in the country. During 2008, the clinic handled 132 cases through the IRS administrative process and 67 cases in the United States Tax Court.

Tax Clinic News

• The Federal Tax Clinic hired John Clynch as a staff attorney. John, who received both his J.D. and his LL.M. from the Law School, will assist the clinic in handling its ever-growing case load. John brings many years of experience as a trial attorney and a tax lawyer to the clinic, and we are delighted to have him.
• Tax Inquiry Is Moving Past KPMG – New York Times
  Scott Schumacher, an assistant professor of tax law at the University of Washington school of law and a former trial lawyer in the criminal tax division of the Justice Department, said that in carrying out financial transactions for tax shelters, "if Deutsche Bank knew that it was bogus and what they were doing was aiding and abetting tax evasion, then they're potentially part of the conspiracy."
• Justice [Department] Examines Deutsche Bank Closely - Financial Times, German Edition.
  Scott Schumacher discusses the KPMG investigation and prosecution. (This article is in German.)
• Fund IRS appropriately so agency can do job on its own - Tacoma News Tribune
  Law professor Scott Schumacher says the IRS wants the private sector to play taxman for some debts - a bad idea, both for taxpayers and the government.
• Hedge-fund Firm could feel fallout from KPMG investigation - Seattle Times
  Scott Schumacher, who teaches tax law at the University of Washington and formerly was a trial attorney with the Justice Department's Tax Division, said "Congress and the government are definitely out to send a message, and one way to send a message is to indict, if not prosecute, the lawyers, hedge funds and bankers."
• Federal Tax Clinic establishes advisory board
  The Federal Tax Clinic established an advisory board made up of former students and tax attorneys in the area. The Board will help guide the future of the clinic, as well as assist Clinic Director Scott Schumacher in outreach and development efforts.

Schumacher publications

Clinic Director Scott Schumacher is the co-author of the book Tax Crimes, published by LexisNexis.

Scott has also published the following articles:

• MacNiven v. Westmoreland and Tax Advice Using "Purposive Textualism" to Deal with Tax Shelters and Promote Legitimate Tax Advice in The Marquette Law Review
• The Ninth Circuit Says Aloha to Boulware — Again, in Tax Notes
• Section 6694 Preparer Penalties and Tax Advice: The Latest on the Constantly Moving Target, in The Practical Tax Lawyer
• Learning to Write in Code: The Value of Using Legal Writing Exercises to Teach Tax Law, in The Pittsburgh Tax Review