Ad Hoc Issue Committee Minutes
Taxpayer Advocacy Panel
Ad Hoc Teleconference
May 11, 2006
2:00 PM
Designated Federal Official (DFO)
- Judi Nicholas, TAP Program Manager, Seattle, WA
Members Present
- Rashidah Abdulhaqq, Cleveland, OH
- George Bates, Jr., Great Fall, MT., Acting Chair
- Emilio Cecchi, North Bethesda, MD
- Larry Combs, Yuba City, CA
- JoAnn Davis, Scott Depot, WV
- Margaret Ferguson, Vista, CA
- Dorothy Havey, Lincolnville, ME
- Gim Hom, Acton, MA
- Donald Miller, Loudon, TN
- Willy Nordwind, Scottsdale, AZ
- Ralph Rivera, Garland, TX
Members Absent
- Patrice Marker, Davie, FL, Chair
IRS Program Owner(s)
- Sandy Kopta, Chief of Individual Tax Forms and Publications
- Sue Sottile, Director of Tax Forms and Publications
Staff Present
- Inez E. De Jesus, TAP Program Analyst & Note Taker
Welcome and Announcements
Vice Chair George Bates, Jr. opened the meeting by introducing
and welcoming Acting DFO Judi Nicholas. Since Nancy Ferree
and Chair Patrice Marker are in travel status today en route
to their area face-to-face meeting, both Nicholas and Bates
will preside over today’s meeting.
Roll Call
Quorum of 7 was met; 11 members present.
Review and Approve Minutes of April 13, 2006
These minutes were approved by consensus.
Updates on Action Items from Last Meeting &
Proposals from last Month:
- Issue 3752, Publication #1, Your Rights as a Taxpayer-
JoAnn Davis led the discussion by providing the panel with
an overview of what transpired when she and Margaret Ferguson,
both members of the Quality Review Team, reviewed the draft
proposal. She shared that there were no changes made to
the content, only some cosmetic editing. Inez has elevated
this issue to the IRS Program Owner on behalf of the Ad
Hoc Committee.
- Issue 3812, Publication 4492, Information for Taxpayers
Affected by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma-
Ms. Davis explained the Quality Review Team’s reasoning
for editing but without it affecting the content. Inez has
also elevated this issue to the IRS Program Owner on behalf
of the Ad Hoc Committee.
- Issue 3813, Innocent Spouse Form 8857-
Ms. Davis shared that the draft proposal for this issue
was not elevated since Willy Nordwind had some concerns.
Nordwind stated that there should be an alert to taxpayers
regarding the risks involved by signing a joint return.
Ms. Ferguson reminded everyone that the goal of the
panel is to focus on the forms and to be sure that they
are user friendly for the average taxpayer. It was suggested
and all agreed that Willy’s issue should be raised
by his area committee. Bates who happens to be from Area
6, as is Nordwind, shared that this issue is currently
being addressed by Area 6 but it is in “Parking
Lot” status for now.
Ms. Davis had mentioned that Form 8857 had been reviewed
but there were no recommendations to be made to the IRS.
Both Inez and DFO Nicholas addressed the issue that even
if there are no recommendations, it is appropriate to
provide a written response to the IRS Program Owner(s).
Action required for Inez as requested by the
panel: Draft a response to the program owner
stating there are no recommendations for changes and circulate
draft response to all the panel members.
Feedback on:
- Issue 3811, Publication 553, Highlights of 2005 Tax
Changes-
Emilio Cecchi, Chair of the Forms and Pubs subcommittee,
shared that there had been some questions about the support
of a child referenced in the draft recommendation, and that
the panel had agreed to delete the recommendation that referenced
it. Panel agreed by consensus to send the revised proposal
to the Quality Review Team and then that it be forwarded
to the IRS Program Owner by the TAP staff, providing that
the committee is kept informed and sees the final product
before it is sent.
- Issue 3905, Publication 17- the directions on
this was to review Pub 17, specifically the on-line publication,
and provide any comments you may have on it. This led to
discussion among the panel members and Sandy Kopta. Highlights
of discussion:
- Obtain feedback from users specifically from the
electronic version.
- Perhaps this should be broken down to chapters.
- Review IRS’ updated version of Pub 17 on CD-Rom.
- Increase search capability.
- There is a cost for producing the CD-Rom’s.
- Committee agreed by consensus to draft recommendation/proposal
to the IRS, requesting that Pub 17 be advertised and
solicit input from users during the tax season. Emilio
will create the first draft and send to Inez who will
forward to the Quality Review Team.
- Issue 3766- W-4 & W-4P - For the record, Emilio
Cecchi stated that this issue is closed and no further action
is required. (Gim Hom and Harvey Epstein had brought up
some additional information that has since been handled
by the TAP Area 1 Committee.)
Emilio Cecchi stated that there will be no sub-committee
meeting planned in between meetings and “We will see
each other in D.C. in June.”
Forms & Publications Program Owner’s Guidance
Sue Sottile expressed her appreciation to the TAP Ad Hoc Committee
for their feedback so far. She shared that at a later date,
they will be working with taxpayers on obtaining feedback
on the new Innocent Spouse Form. The committee will be kept
informed.
Ms. Sottile also mentioned that at the upcoming face-to-face
meeting in D.C., the committee will be asked to “Review
1040”. Sottile’s staff is making major revisions
to the form.
Filing Season Readiness is still being addressed by the
IRS Program Owner(s).
MLI Needs Assessment Updates
MLI Program Owner(s) were not present on this call. Willy
Nordwind, MLI Needs Assessment subcommittee chair requested
that staff inquire on the status of the information promised
by Marilyn Correa during their last teleconference. He would
like to know what are the next steps for the subcommittee
prior to the
face-to-face meeting. MLI Surveys are not complete.
Members Comments
Gim Hom had general questions to Sue Sottile on whether the
recent tax law changes extending capital gains and the AMT
would have an impact on forms and pubs. Sue Sottile promised
to send to Inez the PowerPoint on Tax Law changes.
Some members needed to share their travel plans for the
upcoming face-to-face meeting, and it was agreed that these
individuals would stay on the line after the call in order
to share this information with Inez.
Public Input
None
Summary of Action items prior to next month’s
meeting:
- Inez is to draft a response to Issue 3813, Form 8857,
Request for Innocent Spouse Relief, on behalf of the panel
and circulate draft letter and obtain consensus before it
is elevated to the program owner.
- Sottile/Staff to introduce “Reviewing the 1040”
project at the June 15-17, 2006 face-to-face meeting in
D.C.
- Issue 3811, Pub 553, revised proposal to be reviewed
by the Quality Review Team and shared with the entire committee
prior to elevating to the IRS Program Owner by the TAP Staff.
- Follow-up be made by the TAP Staff with the MLI Program
Owners requesting direction, information and next steps.
- Issue 3905, Pub 17, Emilio Cecchi is to draft proposal
and send to Inez who will send to the Quality Review Team.
- Inez is to forward the PowerPoint on Tax Law Changes
to the committee once received from the Director of Tax
Forms and Pubs.
Closing Assessment/Questions & Answers
DFO Nicholas related message from Nancy Ferree to all: There
will be NO June 8th teleconference meeting since the committee
will be having their face-to-face meeting during the following
week.
Acting Chair Bates thanked DFO Nicholas for participating
on this call and adjourned the meeting.
Next Meeting: Face-to-Face: June 15-17, 2006 in
Washington, DC:
Thursday, June 15, 2006, 1:30 PM – 5:00 PM &
on
Friday, June 16, 2006, 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM
@ The IRS Federal Building, 1111 Constitution Avenue NW, Room
6718, Washington, DC 20224-*Information regarding Security
has been shared via emails
Saturday, June 17, 2006, 8:00 AM – 11:30AM
@One Washington Circle Hotel
One Washington Circle NW-Zenith Conference Room
Washington, DC 20037
Certification: These minutes were approved by consensus
by the TAP Ad Hoc Committee on: June 15, 2006.
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