Face-to-Face Business Meeting February 28, 2003 (8:00am-5:00pm EST) March 1, 2003 (8:00am- Noon EST)

Location:
One Washington Circle Hotel
One Washington Circle, NW
Zenith Conference Room
Washington, DC 20037

Participants (Committee Members)

• Mary Balmer, Chairperson
• Richard Bobb
• Anthony DiMartino
• C. Morgan Edwards
• Karen Kerrigan
• Robert Maziarz
• Patrick McCombie
• David L. Meyer, Vice-Chairperson
• Theodore Perros (02/28/03)
• Lou Romito, Designated Federal Official (DFO)
• Doreen Scott
• Robert Taylor
• Faith Vinikoor

Staff Members

• Inez E. De Jesus, Program Analyst/Recorder
• Nancy L. Ferree, Program Manager

Members Not Present

• Jerry Gensiejewski Jr.
• Calvin Johnson
• Manning H. Mosley III
• George Pruchniewski
• Leonard Steinberg

Guests

• TAP Director Deryle J. Temple
• Director of Systemic Advocacy Arlene Kay (02/28/03)
• Manager of Individual Advocacy Erick Patterson (02/28/03)
• Manager of the DC Taxpayer Assistance Center Michele L. Page (03/01/03)
• Rae Di Martino (Public Participant)
• William David Kebschull (Public Participant) (02/28/03)-C/R Issue #1241
• Lynn Distelhorst (Public Participant) (02/28/03)

Quorum: 11
February 28, 2003= 13 members present
March 1, 2003= 12 members present

Welcome/Announcements/Roll Call
Chairperson welcomed everyone who was able to attend the meeting despite the weather conditions. Prior to start of meeting, members mingled and interacted.

Roll call was immediately taken and quorum was reached.

Administrative/Travel
Program Analyst Inez E. De Jesus provided the panel with a brief overview of the travel guidelines for panel members while conducting TAP Business. This overview was for the benefit of those members who were not at Orientation. Highlights and tips on the processing of the "Travel Expense Report" were shared, as well as information on the meals and incidentals for the District of Columbia.

The hotel's expectation of check-out time was shared with the panel members who were lodging at this location.

Government Issued Sprint Phone Cards
Panel Member Dick Bobb indicated that he had not received the Sprint Phone Card.
Action item: Program Manager Nancy Ferree will follow-up on this matter.

Joint Committee News Vice-Chair David L. Meyer shared the recent discussion held regarding the handling of legislative issues; currently committees may address legislative issues until additional guidance is received from National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson within the next month or so. He also expressed appreciation towards DFO Romito's recent analysis report on the "Issue Processing at the Area Committee Level". Chairperson Balmer emphasized that all Area 2 Issues that are legislative in nature will be placed on hold until further information is received.

Vice-Chair Meyer also reported that the Joint Committee Chair does not want duplication of issues. Agreement was reached that the committee chairs will be communicating among themselves to avoid the overlap of issues. Once a shared database among the staff is placed into operation, reports showing all the issues from all areas will be available.

The Volunteer Ethics Agreement signed by all panel members states that "commitment to the panel will be approximately 300 hours per year", but some members have expressed that they feel they have already served 300 hours.

Vice-Chair Meyer briefly discussed that currently the "Limited Authorization on Form 1040" is effective until the end of 2003, and the Joint Committee is considering addressing this issue by requesting that "Limited Authorization" be revised/extended.

Review/Approve Minutes of February 4, 2003
Minutes were reviewed and accepted.

Action Items from Prior Meeting-
For the record, the following "action/follow-up" items from the last meeting have been updated as follows:

1. The regulations regarding Tort Claim coverage when a panelist travels on government business at no charge to the government. TAP Director Deryle Temple is currently following up with Counsel Carol Campbell for an opinion on this. Ms. Temple stated that this information will be forthcoming soon.
2. Issue #1203- "Request for Simplicity on all IRS Tax Forms" (not legislative issue)-Panel Member Dick Bobb shared that he has not been able to communicate with this individual after several attempts and committee agreed this issue will be closed and a closing letter sent.

TAP Director - Introduction/Discussion
TAP Director Deryle J. Temple welcomed all and shared her background of 20 years of service with the Internal Revenue. She stated that the Joint Chairperson will soon be sharing a decision document from the Treasury Department with the TAP Chairs who in turn will forward to the panel members. This decision document is related to issues coming into TAP that are legislative in nature. Ms. Temple expressed that she is looking forward to be working with the panels.

Ms. Temple introduced guests Arlene Kay, Director of Systemic Advocacy, and Erick Patterson, Manager of Individual Advocacy. Ms. Kay and Mr. Patterson explained the "Systemic Advocacy Management System" program also known as SAMS, which will be operational effective April 1, 2003. "The Office of Systemic Advocacy is responsible for the systemic analysis of issues, advocacy on behalf of individual and business taxpayers, and assisting in the production of the National Taxpayer Advocate's Annual Report to Congress". The Office of the Systemic Advocacy is also looking forward to partnering with TAP.

Panel member Theodore Perros expressed his point of view regarding legislative issues. As he engages in outreach activities and receives grass root issues that are legislative in nature, he strongly feels that these should be worked by the panel. Also, he expressed that 300 hours of volunteer time is not realistic.

There was positive interaction among the committee members, concluding that this committee is very committed to their mission, but need clarification on the IRS' charge/expectation from them, specifically in regards to the working of legislative issues.

Another point of view is that first priority should be to work non-legislative issues and second priority should be to work the legislative issues, but keeping in mind that due to time constraints of a 2 year commitment, the panel may not have the time to work the legislative issues.

Outreach Activities
Members shared their outreach efforts as follows:

Theodore Perros shared his experiences on February 15, 2003, at the DC Tax Preparation & Information Fair held at the Convention Center. The expected large crowd of attendees did not occur due to weather conditions. Dr. Perros observed the tax preparation assistance being provided to the public at no charge.

DFO Romito spoke of the upcoming Mall Outreach Activity at Century III Mall in PA on March 7, 2003, from 9:00am to 5:00pm. DFO distributed flyers that will be posted throughout the mall on this date. This event is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, and is primarily designed to promote electronic filing. The TAP will set up a table near the Taxpayer Advocate Service. Panel members Scott and Taylor will be joining DFO Romito at this event in order to spread the word of TAP's existence.

Program Manager Nancy L. Ferree shared her experiences in the past at Tax Fairs in the State of Florida with Latino Businesses.

C. Morgan Edwards shared an article from The Charlotte Observer, dated February 13, 2003, from the Consumer News Analysis, entitled: "Early Tax Refund Services Carry Whopping Percentage".

Action item: Program Analyst De Jesus will make copies of this article and distribute to all panel members.

Panel Member Faith Vinikoor also shared her outreach activities with the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).

Panel Member Dick Bobb shared his connection with a stakeholder group in North Carolina. He will be on panel at an upcoming meeting in Asheville, NC in May 2003.

The panel discussed briefly the Refund Anticipation Loan (RAL) program.

Public Comment
Before the floor was open for input from the public, DFO Lou Romito provided the following ground rules:

• The suggestion/comment should be in generic form, since we will not discuss individual tax problems.
• The panel members are here to gather information and may ask for clarification of an issue to better understand the speaker's point. The personal opinion of a panel on any given issue is irrelevant.
• The speaker is limited to 5 minutes. The time may be lengthened at the discretion of the Designated Federal Official.
• Though the use of a numbered card, DFO will notify speaker and all present when there are 2 minutes left for the speaker.
• If the ground rules are ignored, DFO has the discretion to adjourn the meeting.

(Issue #1241) The first public speaker, Mr. William David Kebschull, from Maryland, acknowledged the ground rules, and addressed the panel with 2 issues: "Conflict between IRS Forms and Instructions and Section 111(a) and 56(b)(1)(D) of the Internal Revenue Code. (Recovery of Tax Benefit Items & Alternative Minimum Tax)" (Legislative) Mr. Kebschull feels that the Internal Revenue Service is not meeting its mission.

Mr. Kebschull had provided the panel beforehand with a 19 page document acquainting members of the panel with his point of view which the panel had time to review prior to the meeting. (Attachment-Public Record)

After Mr. Kebschull made his presentation and extra time was allowed, this was followed by question and answer period with the panel members.

Mr. Kebschull has been elevating his issue to the IRS for the past 9 years. Most recent avenue used was through the Citizen Advocacy Panel (CAP) Pacific-Northwest office.

Mr. Kebschull requested that the panel elevate his issue directly to the Secretary of the Treasury, but Chairperson Balmer explained the Area Committee's procedure for elevating issues. Committee agreed that it will review, research and analyze his concerns further within a reasonable time frame to determine if it merits elevating to the Joint Committee.

Panel asked if a tax attorney had been contacted, and response was "no".

Action item: Mr. Kebschull will be sending additional information to the panel through the TAP Staff.

Action item: Program Analyst De Jesus is to forward to the panel background information received from the Pacific-Northwest Citizen Advocacy Panel, dated July 7, 2000, "Advocacy Issue, Case #158-I- Recovery of Itemized Deductions and the Effect on Social Security Benefits". (Previously submitted by Mr. Kebschull.)

Guest Lynn Distelhorst, from Virginia chose to listen and submit via the www.improveirs.org her comments/suggestions. Ms. Distelhorst learned of the Area 2 Business Meeting from an advertisement that appeared in the Washington DC Times on February 28, 2003.

Guest Rae DiMartino participated as an observer.

Issue Discussion-Assigned Issues
It was agreed upon that a letter stating "Thank you" should be sent to all contacts that submit issues. The issue of letterhead arose. In the interim, the current temporary TAP Letterhead will be used.

Committee members expressed concern with using the existing TAP Logo since it included "Internal Revenue Service". By including the IRS in the logo it goes against the notion of TAP being independent of the IRS. TAP Director Temple explained that currently the TAP Logo and inclusion of IRS is being reviewed, and that this is a trademark issue.

The following issues were discussed in detail:

For the record, EFTPS means Electronic Funds Transfer Program System

Issue #1229, questions/discussion arose from panel members regarding this issue. How does IRS train their telephone employees? TAP Director addressed this based on her past work experiences.

Closing Assessment
Meeting adjourned until Saturday, March 1, 2003, at 8:00am, same location. All agreed that meeting went well.

Saturday, March 1, 2003

Quorum was met, 12 members present.

Michelle L. Page, Manager of the District of Columbia Taxpayer Assistance Center, (TAC) visited the meeting this morning, and shared with the panel the services rendered at the Taxpayer Assistance Center(s).

Ms. Page was made aware of this event when she was approached by the TAP Staff and willingly made the commitment to post flyers announcing this meeting at the DC TAC office which is visited daily by taxpayers needing tax assistance.

Based on Ms. Page's background with working on the telephone call sites, she was also able to address all the questions the panel members had regarding toll-free line procedures (related to Issue #1229 discussed on prior day) and TAC's assistance provided to the taxpayer.

The panel agreed that in the future, Subject Matter Experts (SME's) should be invited to future meetings depending on the agenda. The staff will ensure that this happens.

Issues -Continued

The panel agreed, the 1040 toll-free telephone issue needs to be pursued and elevated.

Action item: The panel requests that a subject matter expert (SME) be invited to attend the committee's next teleconference meeting scheduled for April 1, 2003. The staff will make the arrangements via a Territory Manager.

Action item: The panel would like to visit a call-site. (Be specific: issue/problem/and what you plan to obtain) Due to Disclosure, TAP Director will inquire if this is feasible.

Action item: TAP Staff is to provide the committee with a flowchart of the Toll-free number organization.

Discussion resulted in the Q-matic numbering system used at Taxpayer Assistance Centers.

Action item: Which TAC offices have availability for downloading forms?

Discussion followed - prior to the start of the meeting members had been given a copy of Tax Notes, dated February 21, 2003, article by Rosemary Schlank, entitled: "Taxpayer Advocate Recommendations Certification of Unlicensed Tax Preparers".

Public Comment
None

Closing Assessment
TAP Director Temple asked the panel: "What can we do to better assist you?" She referenced the upcoming Joint Committee Meeting scheduled for May 2, & May 3, 2003. This will be a means of self-assessment of all the committees, and the Chairs are to provide feedback to the Joint Committee by this time via the Monthly Reports.

2003 Nationwide Tax Forums- TAP Director Deryle Temple addressed questions that arose regarding the upcoming Tax Forums.

The panel agreed by consensus that Panel Members Anthony DiMartino, and Bob Maziarz will be attending the Tax Forum scheduled for July 8, and July 9, 2003, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, at the Sheraton Atlantic City Hotel. A staff person will also be attending for support and assistance. Further information will be forthcoming as the date approaches.

Next Teleconference Meeting- April 1, 2003- 3:00pm - 4:30 pm EST-Same dial-in number, and participant's code will be used until further notice.

Action Item: Staff will make arrangements for obtaining a Subject Matter Expert (SME) as a follow-up to members interested in obtaining additional information on the IRS toll free number procedures.

Members were reminded that if budget is approved for Area 2 to hold its second face-to-face meeting, the dates reserved for this meeting are June 20-21, 2003.

Follow-up questions:
External access to SAMS?- TAP Director to find out from Director of Systemic Advocacy.

Meeting ended.

April 1, 2003