Ad Hoc Issue Committee Minutes

Taxpayer Advocacy Panel
Ad Hoc Teleconference
August 10, 2006

Designated Federal Official (DFO)

• Nancy L. Ferree, TAP Program Manager, Plantation, FL

Members Present

• Rashidah Abdulhaqq, Cleveland, OH
• Emilio Cecchi, North Bethesda, MD
• Larry Combs, Yuba City, CA
• JoAnn Davis, Scott Depot, WV
• Gim Hom, Acton, MA
• Patrice Marker, Davie, FL, Chair
• Willy Nordwind, Scottsdale, AZ

Members Absent

• George Bates, Great Fall, MT, Vice Chair
• Margaret Ferguson, Vista, CA
• Dorothy Havey, Lincolnville, ME
• Donald Miller, Loudon, TN
• Ralph Rivera, Garland, TX

IRS Program Owners

• Marilyn Correa, MLI Strategy Office, Senior Policy Analyst
• Bob Erickson, Senior Technical Advisor, Tax Forms & Pubs
• Margaret Salow, Tax Law Specialist, Reviewer
• Frances D. Royal, Chief of TEGE & Specialty Forms and Pubs Branch

Staff Present

• Inez E. De Jesus, TAP Program Analyst

Welcome and Announcements
Chair Patrice Marker opened the meeting by welcoming everyone.

Roll Call
Quorum of 7 was met; 7 members were present.

Review and Approve Minutes of June 15-17, 2006
It was noted that the June 2006 minutes require one correction, on Page 2, bottom part of the last paragraph, the word should be “premature” and not “immature”- the committee agreed by consensus to approve as corrected.

The July 13, 2006 minutes were approved by consensus.

Review/Approve:

1. Issue 3303, MLI Needs Assessment- Draft Proposal- it was learned during this call that not everyone has seen the draft proposal that was prepared by Dorothy Havey and Willy Nordwind.

   MLI Program Owner Marilyn Correa has seen the draft proposal and expressed her appreciation for the information and suggestions indicated in the referral, and she is ready to share this information with internal IRS employees. All agreed that Marilyn should wait until the proposal is finalized and approved by the panel.

   Action item for DFO Ferree: Contact Dorothy Havey in order to get the latest version of the proposal and share with the entire committee. The goal is to approve the proposal by the next meeting.

2. Issue 3923, Financial Literacy Toolkit-Next Steps- Chair Marker shared that she had reviewed the Strategic Plan and on Page 5, Item 2, where it states the possible target audience, she believes that libraries should be included.

   Cecchi shared that the review of the Financial Literacy Toolkit will be the main discussion of the Forms and Pubs subcommittee teleconference meeting scheduled for September 6, 2006. So far the chair is the only one that has shared comments on the documents received from Ms. Mallon. Cecchi extended an invitation to the entire panel to review the material we have received and to get the comments ready since there is a September 30th deadline.

   There was also discussion on the lack of clarity whether the TAP will be asked to review new brochures as they are created. DFO Ferree will be following up on this.

August 2006 Tax Forums- Las Vegas &/or New York-
Marilyn Correa had extended an invitation to this committee requesting participation at the Las Vegas or New York Tax Forums where focus group interviews will be conducted to review the Spanish DVD, “How to Prepare Your Tax Returns.” Being able to speak in Spanish is a prerequisite.

A poll was taken and there are no Spanish speaking panel members.

The committee expressed appreciation for the invitation and perhaps there will be other opportunities in the future.

IRS Program Owners’ Direction
Bob Erickson requested this committee’s opinion on whether reporting of exempt-interest dividends would best be reported to taxpayers on Form 1099-INT or Form 1099-DIV. The reporting industry is asking that the reporting be on Form 1099-DIV, a form they are currently filing; Tax Forms, however, believes taxpayers would best be served by having the reporting done on Form 1099-INT. Erickson would appreciate if the committee will provide their input by next Thursday, August 17, 2006.

Since Erickson is in travel status, he asked his colleagues who were on the call to send an email with detailed information on this issue to DFO Nancy Ferree for distribution to the entire committee. Frances D. Royal, Chief, TEGE & Specialty Forms and Pubs Branch and Margaret Salow, Tax Law Specialist, Reviewer, promised to do so.

Sub-committee that will be the leads/coordinators on this issue are: Patrice Marker and Willy Nordwind.

Members Comments
Emilio Cecchi asked Bob Erickson about the 1040 Redesign project and Erickson shared that the target tax year for the redesigning of the Form 1040 is 2008. An internal IRS review meeting has been scheduled for the last week of August 2006, to review the plan for the update. Erickson will keep the committee informed regarding the development from the meeting. In the interim, Erickson requested that DFO Ferree contact Sandy Kopta for additional information. This issue will remain in parking lot status for now.

Gim Hom, also a member of the TAP Area 1 committee, has been working on an issue regarding estimated income tax and what would be involved in adding a line to the 1040 to include the estimated income tax. Hom wanted to discuss this with Bob Erickson. Chair Marker clarified the TAP procedures on handling issues by the area and issue committees. It was suggested to Gim Hom to have his area issue subcommittee schedule a teleconference with Bob Erickson or someone of his staff to address their concerns before writing up a proposal to the IRS.

Since JoAnn Davis will begin a teaching assignment on Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning this Fall, she shared that this will be the last time for a while that she will be able to participate on the teleconference meetings until the meeting schedule is changed at the annual meeting. Although she will not be on the calls, she does plan on continuing to participate on all the on-going activities.

Public Input
None

October 12, 2006 Teleconference- Need to Change or Confirm-
Committee agreed by consensus to leave the meeting date as is. The chair had previously sent out an email since she will be at the Joint Committee’s face-to-face meeting.

Action items:

1. DFO Ferree will contact Dorothy Havey in order to get the latest version of the MLI Needs Assessment proposal (Issue 3303) so that it may be shared with the entire committee.
   
2. DFO Ferree will be contacting Bridget Mallon regarding the Financial Literacy Toolkit to see if there are any additional documents for the panel to review.
   
3. DFO Ferree will be contacting Sandy Kopta, Chief of Individual Tax Forms and Pubs, in order to obtain information regarding the redesigning of the 1040 project.
   
4. DFO Ferree will be sharing the information on the new issue received today on the reporting of exempt-interest dividends on Form 1099-INT or on Form 1099-DIV, as soon as she receives it from the Tax Forms and Pubs Program Owners.

Closing Assessment/Q&A
Chair Marker adjourned the meeting.

Please note: Due to the closure of the IRS Federal Building in D.C, the Federal Register notice for this meeting did not post timely.

Next Teleconference Meeting: September 14, 2006, at 2:00 PM ET

Certification: These meeting minutes were approved by the TAP Ad Hoc Committee by consensus on: October 18, 2006.