North Mississippi Rural Legal Services, Inc.

North Mississippi Rural Legal Services, Inc., North MS Rural Legal Services, I Division is a non-profit, non-tax-exempt organization based in Oxford, Mississippi that acts as a federal grant recipient delivering volunteer income tax assistance (VITA) and low-income taxpayer clinic (LITC) legal services to underserved rural and low-income populations. The organization operates as a prime grant recipient (88% of its recent awards) and occasionally as a sub-recipient under larger federal programs; it does not hold federal contracts or IDVs.

The organization's federal footprint concentrates almost entirely on tax-assistance and legal-services grants from the Internal Revenue Service. Recent prime awards include consecutive VITA grants from the IRS for fiscal years 2022 through 2026 (October 1 start dates, September 30 or December 31 completion dates), which fund volunteer-staffed tax preparation for taxpayers with incomes at or below the maximum earned income tax credit threshold, with emphasis on electronic filing, quality control, volunteer training, and service to rural, elderly, disabled, limited-English-proficient, Native American, and military-family populations. The organization also holds three LITC grants (awarded January 1, 2024, with December 31, 2026 completion) that fund tax representation before the IRS and other tribunals, taxpayer education on tax topics, and advocacy on tax administration for low-income taxpayers whose income does not exceed 250 percent of federal poverty guidelines.

The Internal Revenue Service accounts for 30 awards (covering 98% of the top-customer concentration by count), with the broader Department of the Treasury accounting for 6 additional awards. Three awards flow through the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Community Living, and single awards touch the Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women and the Office of Justice Programs Victims of Crime. Combined dollars obligated across all awards total $5.2 million over the visible award history. In its sub-recipient capacity, the organization performs benefits-enrollment and housing-counseling activities under National Council on the Aging and West Tennessee Legal Services primes, and legal services for crime victims under Mississippi State Department of Health (award date December 28, 2023). Activity has grown modestly in recent years (two awards per year in 2022 and 2023, rising to five in 2024, then declining to one in 2025 and 2026 year-to-date), with four awards carrying completion dates within the next twenty-four months and therefore facing grant renewal or recompete windows. The organization may utilize subrecipients to deliver program elements under IRS VITA and LITC guidance, with advanced approval required for LITC sub-delivery arrangements.