August 25, 2003
8:00 A.M. PDT

Members Present

• Jerry Gensiejewski, PA
• James Griffin, CA
• Larry Lexow, IL
• Chris Lowe, CA
• Gregory Maciulla, AZ
• Robert Meldman, Vice Chair, WI
• Diane Mignano, RI
• Paul Smathers, ND
• Lillian Woo, TX
• Judi Nicholas, Designated Federal Official

Members Absent

• Larry Barnard, TN
• James Grimaldi, NY
• Calvin Johnson, VA
• Francis Paolone, AL
• Sherry Whah, AK

Staff

• Anne Gruber

Welcome/Announcements/Review Agenda
Judi Nicholas as Designated Federal Official opened the meeting and Chris Lowe as the chairperson led the meeting. He welcomed everyone and reviewed the agenda for today's meeting.

Roll Call
Anne Gruber took roll call.

IRSAC Request
First item on the agenda was IRSAC's request for help. Judi reviewed the request that was presented to the Ad Hoc Committee on ways to disseminate information to small businesses when IRS initiatives or procedural changes could be of benefit. The request was forwarded to the entire Ad Hoc Committee in late June. As a result of a suggestion by Bob Meldman to utilize Area 4's "What's on TAP" articles as a vehicle to obtain input, an article was written and shared with the professional organizations. The article asked that feedback be sent to Anne Gruber with an August 22, 2003 deadline. To date, Anne has not received any input. If any Ad Hoc committee members have ideas, please forward them to Anne.

Marketing Strategy
Buck Paolone and his subcommittee consisting of Chris Lowe, Larry Lexow, Diane Mignano, Judi Nicholas, and Paul Smathers created a priority list of marketing items to be used by the TAP. The items were previously used by the CAP and would only require minor editing. Judi Nicholas will obtain the list and have the materials ready to be shared at the Annual TAP meeting in October. Samples of each of the items will be available at the meeting where panel members may place orders for type and quantity. It was also recommended that the subcommittee meet again to discuss our marketing strategy and how we recommend the products be used. ACTION ITEM: Anne will set up a conference call of the subcommittee.

Tax Literacy Letter
The letter that was written by the committee was sent to the Commissioner, the National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA), the Secretary of the Treasury, and TAP's director on July 31 under the signature of the Panel Chair, Tom Seuntjens. To date there has been no feedback about the letter.

The committee discussed some of the initiatives by other committees such as a member in communication with the Chicago schools about adding tax literacy as part of the high school curriculum. Area 7, with support from the IRS, is looking into the curriculum that financial organizations offer their clients. They offered courses in financial matters, not tax matters.

Greg Maciulla wondered what the NTA thinks, where she rates tax literacy on her priority list for the Report to Congress. Judi Nicholas indicated she would ask the question.

Jerry Gensiejewski wondered if tax literacy was in the report for 2003, and if not, maybe she could be convinced of its importance for 2004. Greg Maciulla suggested the issue could be raised at the TAP Annual Meeting and invite the entire panel to endorse the topic as a top priority for the TAP. Lillian Woo agreed to present the idea at the Joint Committee meeting in Denver in early September when discussion of the agenda for the annual meeting is addressed. ACTION ITEMS: This issue will be elevated to the Joint Committee by Lillian Woo and Bob Meldman, and then brought to the annual meeting for all the members. Judi will attempt to find out the NTA's position on this issue.

New Directives from Joint Committee

No new issues have been identified.
The committee needs to begin working on the Ad Hoc Committee's annual self-assessment, which will provide input to the TAP Annual Report. This report should include the committee's scope, the issues under current consideration, actions taken, issues tabled for future consideration, accomplishments, disappointments, and an overall grading.

Chris asked for a volunteer to write the report for the Ad Hoc Committee and Paul Smathers agreed to gather the information. Paul will ask for committee member's input on accomplishments, disappointments and overall grading. The chair grading must be done by Chris, but the committee must evaluate the committee overall, the staff support, and IRS cooperation. ACTION ITEM: Bob will send the template to Paul. Anne will send the list of email addresses to Paul. Paul will poll the committee on their opinions of the committee overall, staff support, and the IRS cooperation. Committee members should give their responses a high priority and respond no later than this week. Paul will write the report for submission no later than next week at the Joint Committee meeting.

Future Meetings
None are scheduled. Chris reminded everyone that at this year end our leadership will be reviewed. Chris is interested in stepping down as Ad Hoc chair. Whoever is interested in a leadership position should submit their name to Judi. Since the Ad Hoc Committee will meet for a half day during the annual meeting the list of candidates will be ready for selection by that time. A discussion about future meetings and conference calls will also be held until the annual meeting.

Closing
Chris asked if there were any questions. Lillian wanted to take this opportunity to thank Chris for his leadership of the Ad Hoc Committee. Judi adjourned the meeting at 8:56 AM PDT. ACTION ITEM: A copy of the final financial literacy letter will be provided to all Ad Hoc Committee members.