In addition to his role as Lagniappe Law Lab’s Secretary/Treasurer, he is the Local Taxpayer Advocate for Taxpayer Advocate Service’s Chicago office. TAS is an independent organization within the IRS and is the taxpayer’s voice at the IRS. TAS’ job is to ensure that every taxpayer is treated fairly and knows and understand their rights as a taxpayer.
TAS offers free help to guide taxpayers through the often-confusing process of resolving tax problems that taxpayers are not able to solve on their own. Prior to joining TAS, Mr. VanSingel managed the Low-Income Tax Clinic at Prairie State Legal Services, Inc., where he was responsible for all Clinic activities, including client representation, supervision of interns and volunteers, community outreach, staff training, and grant preparation and reporting.
Mr. VanSingel is admitted to practice in Illinois, New York, and the United States Tax Court. Mr. VanSingel is a former member of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel, a Federal Advisory Committee comprised of 75 individuals dedicated to making systemic improvements to the IRS. Mr. VanSingel received his undergraduate degree from Western Michigan University in 2006, and his J.D., cum laude from Touro Law Center in 2010.
Mr. VanSingel is also involved in the American Bar Association and holds leadership positions in both the Section of Taxation (Pro Bono & Tax Clinics Committee) and in the Young Lawyers Division (Disaster Legal Services Program). He is also a member of the Board of Directors for Community Support Services, Inc., which provides services to individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities. Mr. VanSingel is deeply involved with the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program. In addition to volunteering at VITA Clinics, he regularly teaches tax law for Ladder Up, a VITA grantee which prepares over 10,000 income tax returns annually.