Area 1 Committee Meeting Minutes
December 11-12, 2006
Hyatt Regency Capital Hill
Washington, DC

Monday, December 11, 2006
Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Designated Federal Official

• Fallacaro, Betsy

Committee Members Present

• Chen, Betty - Pound Ridge, NY - Panel Member
• Colombo, Paul - Colchester, VT - Panel Member
• Epstein, Harvey - Lee, NH - Vice Chair
• Gadon, Harold - Cranston, RI - Panel Member
• Havey, Dorothy - Lincolnville, ME - Chair
• Jason, Julie - Greenwich, CT - Panel member
• Margulies, Howard - North Easton, MA - Panel Member
• Zgoda, Bruce - Clarence, NY - Panel Member

Committee Members Absent

• Barry, Shaun - Franklin Square, NY - Panel Member
• Hom, Gim - Acton, MA - Panel Member
• Parra, Luis - Bronx, NY - Panel Member
• Whiteside, Deidra - Buffalo, NY - Panel Member

TAP Staff

• Jenkins, Audrey - Brooklyn, NY - Analyst
• Knispel, Marisa - Brooklyn, NY - Analyst
• Odom, Meredith - Brooklyn, NY - Secretary
• Ramirez, Sandra - Brooklyn, NY - Manager

Monday, December 11, 2006

Welcome/Introduction of Staff & Current Chair
Ramirez welcomed the members, introduced staff and the prior chair of the committee.

Opening of Meeting
Havey(chair) opened the meeting.

Icebreaker
The members paired up and received as much information about the member they were paired up with. They then, informed the committee about each member.

Staff Roles
Havey informed the committee with the roles of the staff.

Role of Designated Official (DFO)
The DFO serves as the Treasury’s agent for all matters related to the Panel’s activities and can delegate his or here responsibilities to an IRS employee.

The DFO must approve, call and adjourn meetings, approve agendas, attend all meetings and co-chair meetings.

The DFO is instrumental in working with panel members to ensure a baseline understanding of IRS issues. This may involve arranging training and other necessary IRS briefings.

Role of Chair

• Serve as the representative for the Area on the Joint Committee (JC)
• Present the final Area committee’s recommendations to JC
• Lead committee Meetings
• Partner in the development of meeting agendas
• Ensure decision are made by consensus within the committee
• Prepare an annual self-assessment
• Prepare a monthly committee report
• Ensure everyone on the Committee is heard
• Keep TAP Staff informed of all needs
• Ensure committee receives all research and documentation needed to make recommendations
• Delegate chair responsibility to the vice-chair or other committee member, on occasion, when unable to attend a meeting or perform a Chair duty
• Respond timely to all staff and Joint Committee requests and inquiries

Role of Vice-Chair

• Serve as a back-up for Chair
• Perform other duties on a regular basis as agreed upon with Chair and TAP Staff

Role of Subcommittee Chair

• Report out to full committee
• Lead Subcommittee meetings
• Ensure decisions are made by consensus
• Ensure committee receives all research and subject matter experts needed to make recommendations
• Report subcommittee progress to Chair
• Ensure subcommittee notes/minutes are taken
• Timely submit all pre-reads to Analyst for the full committee presentation

Role of Members
TAP members provide direct citizen input into the improvement of IRS programs and Procedures. The core responsibilities of TAP members are to participate in: (1) the TAP Annual Meeting, (2) an area committee focusing on grassroots issues, (3) an issue committee focusing on IRS initiatives, and (4) TAP outreach activities to educate the public about TAP and solicit taxpayer input to channel to the IRS.

Committee Structure, Protocols, Quorum, Consensus, TAP Member Handbook, Referral Form

Quorum
Will be 50% plus one

Consensus
An opinion or position reached by a group as a whole.
General agreement or accord: government by consensus.

Because TAP draws together people of varying background and experiences, including familiarity with tax law, IRS, and decision-making, it is important that the process of reaching consensus be respectful. Each idea and each opinion is valuable in guiding the group. Each participant has an equal right to speak and contribute to the process and the collective wisdom.

Flow of Issue
The committee was informed that issues are worked in subcommittees, brought to the full committee for input and consensus and then forward to the Joint Committee for approval and forwarding to the IRS.

Plenary Speaker Overview
Ramirez gave the committee an overview of the scheduled speakers for the plenary session.

Administrative Issues/Wrap up
Havey/Odom informed the committee of administrative duties.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Opening of Meeting/Announcements
Havey opened the meeting at 8:00 AM.

Roll Call
Quorum Met

Election Process
Ramirez explained the election process of Chair and Vice-Chair

Chair and Vice-Chair Election
Chair – Havey
Vice Chair – Jason

Teleconference & FTF Meeting Date
Teleconference dates are scheduled for the 3rd Tuesday of every month at 9:00 AM ET. With an exception of January, the meeting will be on the 23rd due to the federal register posting requirements.

Subcommittee Formation
Subcommittee 1 – Barry, Chen, Havey, Parra, Epstein, and Colombo
Subcommittee 2 – Hom, Jason, Margulies, Gadon, Whiteside and Zgoda

Presentation of Issues

• Electronic Payment of Income Tax (4059)
• E-File – data transmitted through a third party (3930) 
• TEGE Toll-free (3995)
• LITC Education (3519)
• Mom & Pop
• Form 1099 should be received early (3158) – National Tax Forum in Atlantic City
• Overpayment of Social Security (4050)
• LITC and Problems with POAs (4049) – LITC National Conference 

Schedule D Update
Subcommittee 2 will reply to the response from the IRS. It is apparent that the Program Owners missed the point of the proposal. Therefore Subcommittee 2 will better clarify and resubmit it to the IRS.

Assignment of Issues
Subcommittee 1

• E-File – data transmitted through a third party (3930)
• TEGE – Toll-free (3995)
• Overpayment of Social Security (4050)

Subcommittee 2

• Electronic Payment of Income Tax (4059)
• LITC Education (3519)
• LITC and Problems with POAs (4049

Dropped Issue

• Form 1099 should be received early (3158)

Subcommittee Breakouts

• Subcommittee Chair Selection
• Discussion of Issues

Subcommittee Report-out
Subcommittee 1 – Meetings will be at 10:00 AM ET the first Tuesday of each month. Epstein is the Chair

Issues
SSN (4050) – Ready to rate
Toll Free – Research will be done
E-File – Subject Matter will be called in

Subcommittee 2 – Meetings will be at 9:00 AM ET the first Tuesday of each month. Zgoda is the Chair

Issues
Online proposal – Schedule D
LITC – New issues will be looked into
Penalty on IRAs