November 4, 2003
3:00 PM – 4:30 PM EST
Teleconference

Roll Call- was taken by Program Analyst Inez E. De Jesus.

Quorum= is 9 and quorum was met: 12 members were present.

Panel Members Present

• Mary Balmer, Vice-Chair, NC- (Acting Chair)
• Richard Bobb, NC
• Nancy L. Ferree, Acting Designated Federal Official (DFO)
• Anthony DiMartino, NJ
• C. Morgan Edwards, NC
• Jerry Gensiejewski Jr. PA
• Karen Kerrigan, VA
• Robert Maziarz, NJ
• Patrick McCombie, DE
• Theodore Perros, D.C.
• Leonard Steinberg, NJ
• Faith Vinikoor, MD

Members Not Present

• David Meyer, Chair, NJ
• Calvin Johnson, VA
• Manning H. Mosley III, PA
• Robert Taylor, PA
• Lou Romito, DFO

TAP Staff

• Inez E. De Jesus (Program Analyst/Scribe)

Guests

• L. Thomas Davis (Subject Matter Expert-EFTPS)
• Lee Lawrence (Subject Matter Expert-EFTPS)

Welcome/Announcements
Vice-Chair Mary Balmer opened meeting by welcoming everyone and announcing that since Chairperson David Meyer will not be present on this call, due to a prior commitment with his new job, she will preside as Chair during this meeting.

Announcement was also made that Nancy Ferree will be the acting Designated Federal Official (DFO) during this meeting since Lou Romito is attending an area meeting.

Acting Chair Balmer requested that those members who wished to remain an additional year beyond October 2004, to please contact either David, Nancy, Inez or Mary, as soon as possible , since the TAP National Office needs to know for recruitment purposes. It is very important for the National Office to know which States and demographics would need to be filled.

As requested by Acting Chair who had not attended the last Joint Committee meeting, Panel member Leonard Steinberg shared that the October 21 st , Joint Committee meeting was more of an administrative and procedural meeting since there was a turnover of members. Steinberg stated there was no major information to share at this time.

Acting Chair Balmer shared with the committee that there has been 2 recent resignations: Denise Bigger (NC) recently started a new job and does not have the time to participate and George Pruchniewski (MD) has also resigned due to other commitments.

DFO Ferree shared that TAP is actively recruiting and there is awareness that this committee needs representation from Maryland, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina .

Review/Approve Meeting Minutes- October 4, 2003
These minutes were approved.

Subject Matter Experts: EFTPS Issue
Before Subject Matter Experts addressed the committee, Balmer requested that a brief review of the issue be recorded for the record:

“Brief Description of Problem” Citizen expressed the following to the committee: “You mentioned that not as many people are using EFTPS-(Electronic Funds Transfer Program System) as you would like. It appears that the phone prompts may be mis-leading when a fiscal year business tries to make a payment. I have never heard the prompts, but a client of mine was confused as to what tax year it was asking for and ended up submitting taxes for a prior tax year instead of the current tax year. These payments kept getting refunded until we figured out what was happening. You may want to see if the prompts can be changed to make it absolutely clear”.

EFTPS Subcommittee member Dick Bobb had requested that a subject-matter-expert be obtained to address the following questions:

1. How many fiscal year-end taxpayers are there? What percentage utilize EFTPS?
2. Does any statistical data exist which applies to either misapplied payments and/or refunds, i.e. frequency of problem?
3. Status of EFTPS program improvements, if any.
4. What corrections/improvements are needed and best accomplished? It appears changes to operating procedures and instructions would be required?

Subject Matter Experts Lee Lawrence and Tom Davis addressed these questions by responding as follows:

• Since these are primarily 941 quarterly payments, this has nothing to do with fiscal year/calendar year.
• This information is not tracked.
• Regarding 941's/1120's, currently there are no statistics- it can probably be obtained but it would take some time.
• The Subject Matter Experts were not aware of the prompt situation until now, and made a commitment that the next time the script is changed this matter will be addressed. They will attempt to improve the confusion that currently exists for some individuals. Apparently it is not clear to everyone.
• Tom Davis requested that if the panel had any suggestions for improvements to please share these with him. Dick Bobb promised to fill out an input form he had received.
• Tom Davis also shared that in the Initiative for 2004, beginning in January 2004, businesses applying for an EIN (Employer Identification Number) will automatically be enrolled in the EFTPS Program. They will be limited to one coupon. There will also be a penalty abatement incentive program for businesses assessed a penalty. (Up to $1,000.00)-late payments. There will be News Releases coming out by Mid-December 2003 as well as via eftps.gov; IRS website and thru News for the Tax Practitioner.
• Any future concerns, or questions should be funneled via the TAP Program Manager Nancy Ferree.

The committee expressed their appreciation to Lee Lawrence and Tom Davis on addressing their current concerns.

Action item(s) from Prior Meeting
All action items from prior meeting have been addressed with the exception of the Offer-in-Compromise (OIC) Processing Procedures Issue.

Acting DFO Ferree shared DFO's findings with the committee, and all agreed that the IRS is aware of all of the current problems with the processing of OIC's and as previously mentioned it is captured in the National Taxpayer Advocate's Report to Congress, Fiscal Year 2004 Objectives, pages 9 and 10.

Committee agreed that this issue be closed and a closing letter be sent to the citizen that brought this matter to their attention and send a copy of NTA's report as well. (Action item for Analyst De Jesus)

Additional Agenda Item: Message from the Chair: “What are your expectations for the New Year?”
Mary Balmer on behalf of Chair Meyer requested that the committee members respond individually to this question and the responses were as follows:

Dick Bobb: “Keep an outreach effort on-going, as well as continuous Involvement in one issue until resolution and then start on another issue immediately thereafter with no lapses in between”.

Theodore Perros: Stated that he would like resolution to the “Telephone Issue” recommendation regarding taxpayer being placed on hold and not knowing how long he/she would have to wait, as well as the survey at the end of the call. Acting Chair Balmer shared that the first issue has been forwarded to the Joint Committee and the second portion is in the process of being forwarded as well. (Action item for Analyst De Jesus- to ensure that this recommendation be forwarded to the Joint Committee).

Perros also expressed his concerns regarding further clarification of IRS Publications/Bulletins.

C. Morgan Edwards: “There is a need to get North Carolina and South Carolina citizens/taxpayers knowledgeable of TAP's existence and mission.” DFO Ferree shared the importance of making contact with the Media Specialist in your area. Although Edwards shared that he has attempted to do this, it was agreed that he and Dick Bobb will get together to address this matter further. (Action item for Bobb and Edwards)

Faith Vinikoor: suggested that since this is the time of the year that CPE (Continuing Professional Education) seminars occur within the IRS, she reminded everyone to contact his/her LTA's (Local Taxpayer Advocates) for information and perhaps possible attendance. Ms. Vinikoor shared that she has attended these in the past and have found them very educational and informative.

*Due to time constraints, not all committee members had the opportunity to share their expectations. Action item for Kerrigan & Other Panel Members: Balmer stated to please forward your ideas/suggestions to Chair David Meyer as soon as possible.

**Balmer requested that a new sub-committee be created to review those issues currently in “Parking Lot” status. As a result, the following members volunteered: Dick Bobb, Anthony DiMartino, and Bob Maziarz. Action item: Program Analyst Inez E. De Jesus is to send copies of all these issues by no later than Friday, November 7, 2003, to this subcommittee with copies to the Chair and Vice-Chair. Sub-committee will review these and report back to the committee.

Status Reports from Sub-committee Chairs
Panel Member Maziarz shared with all his recent contact via teleconference with Subject Matter Experts from the IRS, Ron Gamble and Reviewer Jason Fournier, regarding the W-4 Issue. Lines 5 and 6 of this form were discussed; the committee needs clarification on whether if by allowing the taxpayer to enter a percentage rather than a dollar value would this require a change in the regulations or would simply a change in the interpretation of Code Section 3402 be required.

The committee agreed that “regulatory” changes are easy to do.

Action pending: The TAP Staff is currently awaiting response elevated to Chief Counsel's office in response to this matter whether TAP can recommend a change. The staff promised to keep the committee informed as soon a General Counsel responds.

Since Patrick McCombie was not present, there was no status information regarding the 1041 Issue.

Representative from a Telephone Company
Panel Member Theodore Perros shared that he has been discussing this matter with DFO Romito and he believes that the validity of the individual contact person be DFO Romito. This topic will be discussed further at a later date and added to next month's agenda. (Action item: Analyst De Jesus and Follow-up for Perros and Romito)

Review of New Issues
Analyst shared that the 2 “new” issues are actually issues that were in “Parking Lot” status and since the citizens have contacted the TAP recently they are being re-surfaced for discussion by the committee:

1. Issue # 2074- Practitioner Assistance at SC Taxpayer Assistance Center-
2. Issue # 2115-Suggestion to Improve Form 1040 NR Instructions-

Committee agreed that the newly established sub-committee that will be reviewing all issues in “Parking Lot” status will evaluate these and report back to the committee.

For the record, Panel Member Vinikoor expressed that Issue #2115 tends to be “legislative” since there is mention of changing the law.

Feedback on TAP on “Tax Talk Today”
Panel Member Jerry Gensiejewski Jr., shared that although the Ad Hoc Committee is currently addressing broader aspects of “marketing issues for TAP”, it will not be getting engaged right now with “TAP on Tax Talk Today”. He suggested that the committee work on this on its own.

DFO Ferree suggested that this committee elevate this matter by way of a “Recommendation” to the Joint Committee which will be a great way of bringing the awareness of TAP to many.

Administrative News
Acting DFO Ferree shared with everyone that it was very important to the TAP Program that all “outreach” activities be captured even if there are no expenses involved. If there are expenses involved, then prior managerial approval is required due to budget constraints. DFO Ferree also referenced the “Speaker's Report” form that is available for all to use.

Face-to-Face Meetings 2004 (Vision and Timeframe)
Committee reviewed their plans for two face-to-face meetings next year:

March 5, and 6, 2004 in Charleston , SC &

*June 11, and 12, 2004 either in Norfolk , VA or Baltimore , MD

These dates fall on Friday and Saturday.

*The committee agreed after discussing the June 2004 meeting, that it should be held in Baltimore, MD. (Vote was taken which resulted in confirmation that this meeting will be held in Baltimore, MD. )

Committee also agreed that travel day will be the day before the meeting; meetings will be for one and a half days, and return to residence on the afternoon of the second day.

Public Input/Closing Assessment
Analyst De Jesus shared that she had received a phone call today from an individual from the Capitol News Service in D.C., who had learned of this meeting from an announcement that had appeared in today's Washington Times DayBook. Unfortunately, this individual has not joined the meeting.

No public input.

Meeting ended timely by Acting Chair and Panel Member Theodore Perros shared his words of wisdom with all.

Confirm Next Meeting: December 2, 2003 @ 3:00 PM EST