Charlotte N.C.- El Servicio y Defensa al Contribuyente en colaboración con el Centro de Apoyo Legal de Charlotte llevarán a cabo el lunes 15 de julio un taller informativo sobre la resolución de problemas de impuestos.
El taller que será impartido en español, está dirigido a contribuyentes que tiene algún caso existente con el Servicio de Rentas Internas, IRS, ya sea de colección o acuerdo de pagos, auditorias, apelaciones, robo de identidad, que necesiten representación en la corte de impuestos o tengan preguntas sobre su devolución de impuestos, de individuales o negocios.
Advocacy Center Assisting Tax Fraud Victims in Local Case
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Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy is assisting victims in a local tax fraud case after a
federal grand jury recently indicted a Charlotte woman on charges of preparing
false returns and obstructing a criminal investigation.
Andrivia Wells, also known as Tina Smith, Tina Harris, Andrivia
Smith and Andrivia Harris, of Rush Tax Service has been indicted on charges of
aiding and assisting in the preparation of fraudulent tax returns for her clients
and obstructing the criminal investigation by the Internal Revenue Service
(IRS) by destroying records.
The indictment alleges that through Rush Tax Service, Wells
prepared, or caused to be prepared, more than 6,000 fraudulent tax returns
and Rush Tax Services received more than $1.2 million in fees from her
clients between 2013 and 2017.
According to allegations, Wells prepared income tax returns that
claimed false filing statuses, false American Opportunity and education
credits, false Schedule C businesses, and false fuel tax credits, in order to
inflate refunds paid by the IRS.
The indictment further alleges that tax preparation fees were
taken directly from the clients’ tax refunds, and in many cases the clients
were unaware of how much they were being charged, which was frequently more
than $500.
When tax filing fraud occurs, taxpayers are often unaware of a
preparer’s actions until the IRS notifies them of a discrepancy in their tax
returns.
“Getting a letter from the IRS is especially frightening and
confusing for a victim of tax fraud,” said Arthur Bartlett, director and
attorney for the Advocacy Center’s North Carolina Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic.
“That’s why we’re helping those impacted by this case understand their rights
and advocating on their behalf before the IRS.”
According to the IRS, more than half of U.S.
taxpayers used a paid tax preparer in the 2016 tax year. The IRS urges
taxpayers to be selective when choosing a tax preparer because even if a
preparer commits fraud, the taxpayer is ultimately responsible for the accuracy
of information on the tax return.
Contact the Advocacy Center by calling 704-376-1600 (Mecklenburg County residents), 800-438-1254 (residents outside Mecklenburg County) if you had your tax returns prepared by Rush Tax Services and you believe that your tax returns were not prepared correctly.
The Advocacy Center’s Tax Clinic may be able to assist you in correcting any errors that were made during the preparation of your tax returns and dealing with any liabilities that result.
The Tax Clinic provides low-income taxpayers with representation in federal and state tax controversies and educates individuals about their rights and responsibilities as U.S. taxpayers.
Find yourself a friend
who will not only tell you about an amazing free estate planning service
available for Mecklenburg County residents over 60 but also go with you to have
your documents finalized!
That’s what Patricia C.
did for her friend, Patricia H. These two have known each other for years.
Along with sharing a first name, they live in the same community and attend the
same church.
Patricia C. had her will updated through Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy’s Legal Services for the Elderly program when she moved to the area in 2014.
“Because I was new, I was
trying to find out everything that was available,” she says.
The program pairs Mecklenburg County residents age 60 and older with volunteer pro bono attorneys who help them prepare simple estate planning documents and execute them to ensure local seniors can maintain their dignity and independence when making end-of-life decisions without the burden of cost.
Estate
planning can be expensive, especially for people living on a fixed income, which
is a major reason why many put off doing it.
The pro bono attorney
who prepared Patricia C.’s documents told her that had she gone to a private
attorney to have the documents prepared, she would have paid at least $1,000
for the service. She’s seen others pay even more.
However, when
a person dies or becomes incapacitated without documenting their wishes, loved
ones are left with hard decisions to make.
That’s why Charlotte Center for
Legal Advocacy protects the rights of seniors who can’t afford legal assistance
by providing free simple estate planning.
“Being able to have this service done takes all of the hard decision making and burden off my children’s hands,” Patricia C. says.
Patricia C. had such a wonderful experience that when she learned her friend, Patricia H., didn’t have a will, she encouraged her to call Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy.
On April 26, the Patricias came to the sixth annual Wills for Seniors and Veterans Clinic at Beatties Ford Road Regional Library, where volunteers from Duke Energy, Garrity & Gossage and K&L Gates helped local seniors and veterans execute wills, advance directives and powers of attorney documents.
“I’m here to support of my friend,” Patricia C. said sitting in the waiting area.
“It’s been a good
experience and my attorney explained so much,” Patricia H. said after
getting her documents finalized. “I’m going to live to be 100, but I’m
glad I was able to go ahead and check this off my to-do list!”
Now both women have the
peace of mind that comes with knowing their wishes will be honored and a plan
is in place.
The Patricias celebrated by going to lunch afterward.
Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy team member Ruth Santana is the 2019 recipient of the Mecklenburg County Bar’s Liberty Bell Award.
Santana, who works with the Advocacy Center’s Immigrant Justice Program as a BIA accredited paralegal-advocate, received the award in recognition for her advocacy on behalf of immigrants seeking legal assistance in Charlotte’s Immigration Court.
Santana is a tireless champion for immigrants in our community, fighting to ensure they have the legal assistance and information they need to defend themselves in Charlotte’s Immigration Court.
Her work is critical because no one has the right to representation in immigration court, since immigration cases are civil matters.
That leaves those who can’t afford an attorney, including children, alone to defend themselves in an overwhelming and confusing system with scarce resources.
For hundreds of clients, Santana is a stabilizing and supportive advocate, guiding families in crisis through frightening uncertainty and fighting for their right to due process.
The Mecklenburg County Bar’s Liberty Bell Award, which has been awarded annually since 1966, recognizes non-lawyers serving the community in ways that strengthen the American system of freedom under the law.
Santana joins a long list of community leaders who have received the award, including former Advocacy Center paralegal-advocate and CMS Board of Education leader Arthur Griffin (2004), local historian Tom Hanchett (2011) and Harvey B. Gantt (2018), Charlotte’s first African American mayor.
Some Immigrants Choose Between Food Stamps and a Green Card
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Lourdes Juarez has lived in North Carolina since 2000, working part-time to help children with disabilities improve their motor skills. Originally from Mexico, she is now a lawful permanent resident of the United States with plans to apply for citizenship.
After bouts of pancreatic and liver cancer left her struggling with medical debt, she learned that she qualified for Medicaid, the government health program for low-income people. But she had a nagging concern that accepting government benefits would affect her chances of gaining citizenship. She had heard rumors to that effect among her friends and in the news.
Juarez’s fear reflects the growing sense among immigrants that they should avoid public programs, which also include food stamps and certain housing programs, in case they count against their ability to stay in the country permanently. In December, Juarez called the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy, which reassured her that her citizenship would not be affected if she enrolled in Medicaid. Only then did Jaurez relax and sign up.
The Mecklenburg Access to Justice Pro Bono Partners Program of Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy and Legal Aid of North Carolina-Charlotte is pleased to recognize our committed pro bono attorneys on its annual Pro Bono Honor Roll.
Download a copy of the Pro Bono Honor Roll 2019
This list recognizes local attorneys who donated at least 20 hours of service or closed three or more cases for our clients in 2018.
Thank you to these dedicated legal professionals who have given their time and expertise to serve our community!
Each of you has played a key role in helping our agencies ensure ALL people have access to justice through legal representation.
Stephen D. Allred Blas P. Arroyo Keith F. Atkinson Patricia V. Baker Linda Elise Boss Barry S. Burke William M. Butler Jazmin G. Caldwell Emily Lynn Cantrell Avery Devin Catlin L. Cameron Caudle Jr. P. Mercer Cauley Graham H. Claybrook Shelly Davis Cole G. Lee Cory Alexander Carter Covington Robert Kader Crawford Matthew H. Crow Josef C. Culik Heather W. Culp Joshua D. Davey Stephen Thomas Denmark Kathleen H. Dooley Timothy Scott Emry Landon S. Eustache John A. Fagg Jr. Ramona Farzad Daniel J. Finegan Walter D. Fisher Jr. Douglas R. Ghidina David P. Ginzer Christian K. Glista Kimberly A. Gossage Stephanie E. Greer Fulcher
David Alan Griffin Ariel E. Harris Alexandra Jacqueline Hirsch Brett Alan Hubler Fielding E. Huseth Ann-Rose Marie Johnson-Lewis David H. Jones Stuart Manly Jones Jr. Michael Todd Kafka Amy P. Kaplan Christopher B. Karlsson Glenn E. Ketner III Heryka Rodriguez Knoespel Glenn G. Kunkes Nicholas H. Lee Francisco J. Linares Howard Michael Lintz Allan J. MacQuarrie Jasmine Chloe Marchant Thomas E. McNeill Graham Strowd Miller Eric William Mills Molly Elizabeth Morgan Robert A. Muckenfuss Amanda J. Muehlhausen Elizabeth A. Murphy Thomas W. Murrell III Amanda Pickens Nitto Nancy Black Norelli Paul J. Osowski Fern A. Paterson Kim Brett Perez Kathleen Elizabeth Perkins Sean F. Perrin
Henry N. Pharr III Kevin Lee Pratt Amanda Katherine Reasoner Alexis N. Reynolds Garry S. Rice Alice Carmichael Richey Patrick L. Ridinger Susan Courtwright Rodriguez Melissa A. Romanzo Frederic Hilton Schilling Jonathan E. Schulz Ty Edwin Shaffer Raleigh A. Shoemaker Matthew R. Smith Benjamin A. Snyder Eric S. Spengler Paul A. Steffens Ryan Paul Thompson Jeremy Bryant Tomes Lauren Tonon Nicolas Evan Tosco Leslie Campbell Tucker III Karen Vasko Richard William Veronen Jr. H. Landis Wade Jr. Ann L. Warren Kathryn G. Wellman Abigail Forrister Williams Susan Brown Wolfe David Scott Wolpa Julia Kay Wood Richard Charles Worf Jr. Julian H. Wright Jr. Nancy M. Wright
North Carolina attorney volunteers! Be sure to report your pro bono hours to the N.C. Pro Bono Resource Center to be recognized with your colleagues statewide for your service. Visit ncprobono.org/volunteer/ to learn more about the N.C. Rule of Professional Conduct 6.1 and statewide pro bono initiatives.
Attorneys who report at least 50 hours of pro bono legal services in a year will be inducted into the NC Pro Bono Honor Society and receive a certificate from the Supreme Court of North Carolina recognizing their service. Check out this year’s cohort of inductees! Learn more at ncprobono.org.
Class Action Notice: Hawkins v. Cohen
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Hawkins v. Cohen (5:17-CV-581 E.D.N.C.) is a federal lawsuit filed in 2017 by Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy and the National Health Law Program to stop illegal terminations of Medicaid benefits in North Carolina.
The
Court hearing the case has certified it as a class action. This means that the Court’s
orders protect all North Carolina Medicaid beneficiaries from having their Medicaid
terminated improperly (including transfer to Medicaid that only covers family
planning services).
The
Court has issued a preliminary injunction ordering the N.C. Medicaid agency and
all 100 county Departments of Social Services (DSS) to stop terminating or
reducing Medicaid coverage until eligibility under all Medicaid categories has
been considered and advance notice of the right to a hearing has been
mailed.
The Court’s
order prohibits automatic terminations without any notice by the state
computer, NC FAST, because a county worker failed to process a review of the
case in the month it was due. This often happens in the following
circumstances:
The
Order also prohibits failure to consider all Medicaid categories before
Medicaid terminates. Specifically, beginning in April 2019, for persons
receiving Medicaid as a child, caretaker of a child, or pregnant woman, DSS
will have to send a notice giving that person the opportunity to allege
disability and then apply for Medicaid based on disability even though the
person already gets Medicaid. If that application based on disability is timely
filed, DSS cannot terminate Medicaid for that person unless that application
has been denied.
If you have any questions about this lawsuit or about your rights, you may contact the attorneys who filed the case, the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy. You can reach these lawyers by calling this toll free number: 1-800-936-4971. You can also send the lawyers an email at hawkinsinfo@charlottelegaladvocacy.org.
You
also may contact these lawyers if you want to report that you lost your
Medicaid without a decision that you were no longer eligible for Medicaid under
any category or without receiving advance written notice that your Medicaid
would stop. There is no cost to you for any help that these lawyers provide to
you.
Hospitals Must Post Prices Online for Standard Services
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CHARLOTTE, NC – It’s now easier to estimate what your hospital bill might add up to. Since the start of the new year, a federal rule requires all hospitals to post prices for procedures online. That doesn’t include what health insurance covers.
Healthcare.gov Knocked For Glitches, Inaccurate Info By Advocacy Group
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If you’re shopping for an insurance plan on healthcare.gov, the online marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act, there’s an important feature that doesn’t always work, an advocacy group says. It sometimes gives misinformation about which doctors are in the network for each plan.
