The Justice & Diversity Center (JDC) is pleased to recognize Chuck Schreiber as the January Volunteer of the Month .
Schreiber serves a crucial role as one of a few certified public accountants volunteering with JDC’s Low-Income Tax Clinic (LITC), which provides representation for low-income taxpayers facing issues with the IRS.
LITC provides limited- and full-scope representation for issues ranging from audits, appeals, collection and litigation. Since Schreiber can handle sophisticated filings, he helps to make LITC a valuable and holistic tax-assistance resource.
Schreiber first got involved with pro bono tax assistance after passing the United States Tax Court exam. He started with the Day of Docket program, which assists and represents clients the day they are due to appear in tax court. In more extensive representation, Schreiber has achieved admirable results for JDC clients, including negotiating the discharge of about $20,000 in student loans for a permanently disabled client. For a number of years, the client did not have enough taxable income to require filing tax returns. A tax preparer incorrectly treated her entire forgiven debt as taxable income, resulting in liability of over $2,500. When JDC’s client began receiving bills from the IRS and Franchise Tax Board, she considered borrowing money from family to pay off the erroneous assessments. However, Schreiber prepared amended tax returns correcting the first tax preparer’s mistakes and reducing the client’s balance owed to nothing.
Though Schreiber sold his tax preparation and controversy business last year and considers his professional life to be “in the rear view window,” he appreciates that volunteering allows him to stay connected with the tax professional community. He is also grateful that volunteering with JDC gives him an opportunity to give back through the profession that provided him a good living for many years.
Outside of volunteering, Schreiber is an avid golfer, though he admits to “making up for skill with volume.”
JDC thanks Schreiber for his hard work helping LITC and JDC’s clients.
