Area 1 Committee Meeting Minutes

January 5, 2005

Opening of the Meeting
Ghoniem welcomed all the participants and asked if anyone had changes to the agenda. She indicated that the returning members should approve the minutes of the Area 1 Committee’s last meeting and she wanted all to review and prioritize the issues that the former members had considered but not worked. Finally, the members will divide into subcommittees to work the issues selected.

Roll Call

Panel Members Attending

• Elizabeth Ghoniem, MA, Chair
• Philip Cimino, NY
• Harvey Epstein, NH
• Harold Gadon, RI
• James Grimaldi, NY
• Michael Guthman, CT
• Dorothy Havey, ME, Vice Chair
• Paul Nagel, NY
• Sanford Searleman, NY
• Eileen Shuman, VT
• Charles Silva, MA

Panel Members Absent

• Aaron Bell, NY

Quorum was met.

TAP and IRS Staff Attending

• Peter Gorga, Jr., NY, DFO
• Marisa Knispel, TAP Program Analyst
• Sandra Ramirez, TAP Program Manager

IRS Guest

• Mary Ann Silvaggio, Director of TAS Area 1

Meeting Minutes
Silva motioned to approve the minutes and Shuman seconded this motion. The minutes of September 21, 2004 and September 27 & 28, 2004 were approved. Ghoniem clarified for the new members that the Area 1 approves its meeting minutes by consensus.

Joint Committee Report
Ghoniem reported some of the topics discussed at the Joint Committee teleconference such as the TAP’s outreach goals and the size of the Issue Committees. She noted that the SBSE Issue Committee was the largest TAP committee with twenty-three members and still more interested in joining. The TAP management is concerned that the amount of issues the IRS will provide to this Committee may not be sufficient to support a Committee of such size.

Ghoniem also announced that due to budget constraints, each committee would be limited to only one face-to-face meeting this year.

TAS Director for Area 1
Mary Ann Silvaggio thanked the Committee for inviting her to this meeting. She also thanked the new members for their interest in helping the IRS resolve many issues as the TAP members have done in the past. Silvaggio apologized for not been able to participate in the TAP’s Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. as she intended this past November, but she was held in Colorado due to inclement weather. She ended by providing her office phone number (212-298-2072) to the Area 1 members for any future contact.

Gadon asked Silvaggio whether the members should contact her or their Local Taxpayer Advocate (LTA) in the event a TAS issue arises in their community. Silvaggio answered that a TAS issue should be referred to the LTA. Gadon also wanted to know if the LTAs are invited to attend the TAP’s face-to-face meetings. Gorga explained that it is customary for the Area 1 Committee to invite the LTA of the city or state where the meeting will be held.

Parking Lot Issues and Formation of Subcommittees
In the interest of time, the members decided to revise the agenda by omitting the review of each issue in the parking lot and move along by having the members select their participation in a subcommittee. Once the subcommittees were formed, the subcommittee members would meet privately to discuss the issues (parking lot and any new ones) and decide which of these they would like to consider.

Three subcommittees were formed and the members were divided as follows:

Subcommittee #1 - Bell, Ghoniem, Cimino and Epstein.
Subcommittee #2 – Gadon, Guthman, Grimaldi and Nagel.
Subcommittee #3 - Havey, Searleman, Shuman and Silva.

As returning members, Ghoniem, Grimaldi and Shuman, were designated to initiate the first subcommittee teleconference, assist their subcommittee colleagues in electing a chair and review the old issues (i.e. parking lot issues). They will also discuss the issues Cimino referred to the Committee which were included in today’s agenda. The subcommittee chair must report the issue selections and any other decisions made by the subcommittee to Chair Ghoniem and Analyst Knispel before the next full Committee meeting. Knispel indicated that she would participate in the subcommittee teleconferences whenever possible to provide any assistance needed.

Face-To-Face Meeting
The members discussed the dates and locations for this meeting. Previously, they had considered meeting in Hartford, CT and Boston, MA during February and June, respectively. However, since budget constraints limit each TAP committee to only one face-to-face meeting, they considered February to be premature and opted for the second date and location. Knispel will email all members to find their availability for the pre-discussed dates of June 16th through the 18th in Boston and the final decision will be made at the next teleconference.

Outreach Report
Ghoniem asked the members if they had any outreach opportunities in their communities since the Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. as she must report them to the Joint Committee by mid-month. She requested that the Area 1 Committee members report their outreach opportunities at each teleconference/meeting as an agenda item.

All the members and the DFO were active in outreach, speaking about the TAP with colleagues, family and friends and making presentations at several tax practitioner and accounting organization events.

Public Participation
None.

Closing Assessment
Ghoniem thanked all the members and guests for their participation.

The meeting closed at 12:40 PM ET.

The next meeting will be on February 2, 2005 at 11:30 AM ET.

Action Items
Ghoniem, Grimaldi and Shuman will initiate a teleconference with the members of their respective subcommittees.

Subcommittees will elect a subcommittee chair and decide the issues they would like to consider. Afterwards, the Subcommittee Chair will report to Ghoniem and Knispel the issues they have chosen.

Knispel will send information on the issues remaining from the former Area 1 Committee members and any new issues.

Knispel will email TAP calendar for June and July, 2005 and request members’ availability for dates to hold the face-to-face meeting.