Designated Federal Official (DFO)
Nancy L. Ferree, TAP Program Manager, Plantation, FL

Members Present
George Bates Jr., Great Falls, MT
Kimberly Brown, Blakeslee, PA
Christopher Freeman, Chaska, MN
Howard Guthmann, St. Paul, MN
Joseph Holley, Barboursville, WV
Gim Hom, Acton, MA
Jeff Kennedy, Louisville, KY
Reagan Lynch, Midland, TX
Lev Martyniuk, Cincinnati, OH
Alberto Rodriguez, Miami, FL -- Chair
Richard Waterman, Campbell, CA
Kenneth Wright, Ashland, MO – Vice- Chair

Members Absent
Margaret Ferguson, Vista, CA
Louis Kapugi, Sharpsburg, GA

Staff Present
Anita Fields, Secretary
Inez DeJesus, TAP Analyst
Maritza Rabinowitz, MLI senior Analyst
Patty Wagner, Sr. Technical Advisor, Tax Forms and Pubs
Sue Sottile, Director, Tax Forms and Pubs
Bob Erickson, Sr. Technical Advisor, Tax Forms and Pubs

Welcome & Roll Call/Quorum
Al Rodriguez welcomed everyone and thanked them all for coming. Quorum was met.

Introduction of Guest
None present

Review of December 13, 2007 Meeting Minutes
December minutes were approved as written.

Update from Tax Forms & Pubs Office
Patty Wagner gave update that Pub 560 will be available online February 15th.

Lou Kapugi is working on Pub 590.  He is not present on the call therefore; Al Rodriguez will speak to Lou and get his update/progress back to Inez.  Joe Holley asked when pubs are reviewed are we looking for clarity and the way it’s worded.  Bob Erickson answered back with “we are looking from the taxpayer’s point of view.  Whatever you don’t understand or is not clear. There is no limit on what you can or cannot comment on as long as it does not involve tax law change”.  Ken Wright partnered with Max Scott on notices to use a form to bring uniformity to the way that we respond back to the IRS.  Bob Erickson stated that the PDF format was very helpful and that he liked that process.
Sue Sottile thanked the group and stated that the more information given the better the change will be.  When providing comments be as detailed as you can be.

Update from Language Services Office
Maritza stated that she would like for TAP to review Publication 4445D format and content.  Provide feedback as to how we could improve this product.  When providing feedback please consider the following: 

1. Should we market this product to other audiences and how do you see this product benefiting other audiences?
2. Should the sections be divided differently or is there any other format the team recommends we consider?
3. How could we improve this product?

Please provide us your recommendations in order of importance. 

Maritza would also like for the panel to Review listing of forms and publications available in Spanish, using as a reference Pub 4445D. Determine if there is a topic currently not available in Spanish and for which the team considers important in assisting Spanish-speaking taxpayers with meeting their tax responsibilities. Once the team identifies a topic, Publication 910 can assist you in determining if there is an English product addressing such topic. Please provide your recommendations as to what products you would like the Service to consider for translations in order of importance and include a business reason for each request. Recommendations can cover both individuals as well as business taxpayers. 

Maritza also informed the panel that the following products are currently in production:

Publication 334(SP), Tax Guide for Small Business
Publication 15(SP), (Circular E), Employer's Tax Guide
Forms 2848(SP), Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative

 Issues Discussion

1. Issue 4517- Pub 560- Retirement Planning Status
   
Pub 560 will not be available until February 15th.
2. Issue 4518- Pub 590- IRA (Status)
   
Al will speak with Lou Kapugi to get an update.

Face-to-Face Meeting
Meeting will be held in Washington, DC, June 11-13, 2008.  We hope that all can attend.  We are now getting all logistics in order.

Open Forum
Reagan Lynch, Kenneth Wright and Al Rodriguez have volunteered to work on Pub 4445D which has a due date of Wednesday March 26, 2008.  Maritza would also like the responses back regarding Pub 910 on Wednesday May 21, 2008.

Closing--Meeting Survey reminder
Al asked everyone to please mark calendars with the date and time of the next meeting.  Al asked Chris Freeman to put together his comments on Issue 4270 and send it to him.

Next Meeting is Tuesday, March 4, 2008 @ 2:00pm EST

*Certification:  These minutes were approved by the committee by consensus on March 4, 2008.