Area 2 Committee Meeting Minutes

Date: January 18, 2005
Via: Teleconference

Designated Federal Official

• Terry L. Mapp, LTA, Philadelphia, PA

Members Present

• William Bly, Wayne, PA
• Paul Brubaker, York, PA, Co Vice-Chair
• Anthony DiMartino, Toms River, NJ, Chair
• C. Morgan Edwards, Charlotte, NC
• Christine Hurley, Lorton, VA
• Steve Kreisler, Potomac, MD
• Robert Maziarz, Hainesport, NJ
• Paul McElroy, Winston-Salem, NC, Co Vice-Chair
• Theodore Perros, Washington, D.C.
• Steve Rue, Mechanicsville, VA
• Lynwood Sinnamon, Arlington, VA
• Agnes Tillerson, Erie, PA
• Faith Vinikoor, Baltimore, MD
• Elizabeth Warnecki, Ladson, SC
• Lillian (Beadsie) Woo, Durham, NC

Members Not Present

• Sonny Kasturi, West Orange, NJ
• Pat McCombie, Wilmington, DE
• Martin Romeril, Bethlehem, PA

Guests

• Delford Jones, TAP Area 4 Panel Member

TAP Staff

• Inez E. De Jesus, Program Analyst & Note Taker

Welcome/Announcements/Review Agenda
DFO Mapp opened the meeting by wishing everyone a very “Happy New Year” and she apologized to the Chair and Co Vice-Chairs on her not being able to participate on the December 20, 2004, Pre-teleconference meeting.

Chair DiMartino expressed that he appreciates her role on this committee, and understands that at times she may have workload conflicts.

DiMartino also shared that since the Co Vice-Chairs are named Paul, in order to avoid confusion, Brubaker will be addressed as Bru, and McElroy will be addressed as Paul.

Roll Call
Quorum of 10 was met; 15 members were present.

Joint Committee Report
Chair Tony DiMartino began by sharing with all that due to the current budget situation, committees will now be allowed to have only one face-to-face meeting instead of two as previously planned. The committee would have to decide today on the exact dates and locations. After discussion, the committee agreed that the face-to-face should be held February 18-19, 2005 (travel days Feb 17th and afternoon of Feb 19th) in Columbia, SC. Action item for Analyst De Jesus: Inez will proceed with meeting arrangements and promised to send pertinent information to all after this call.

Issues Discussion (#2389-3239)
Chair DiMartino began this portion of the meeting by sharing that he has divided this session among the Co Vice-Chairs and other members to lead:

Paul McElroy began with Issue # 3220, Reduce Processing Time of Offer-in-Compromise’s (OIC’s) - this issue states: “To review and prepare recommendations to the Service on how processing time may be reduced.” Discussion that followed touched on how this is already being addressed by the National Taxpayer Advocate in the 2004 Report to Congress as one of the Top 21 most serious problems encountered by taxpayers. (This is already on the “radar screen”.)

• Further discussion led to how each offer is handled differently, and to save time, Steve Rue was asked to provide specific scenarios based on his experiences as a tax preparer to the committee via email to the Chair.
• Agnes Tillerson inquired if this is similar to an issue that Area 3 is addressing, and
• Beadsie Woo inquired on what is meant by an Issue Matrix and an explanation was given to her.

Results: Issue #3220 will be kept “active” for now and Chair DiMartino indicated that he will be getting in touch with prior Area 2 Chair David Meyer who had originally brought this issue to the attention of the committee.

McElroy then proceeded to address Issue #3223, Review OIC’s Criterias, this issue states: “To review and evaluate the criterias for OIC’s as cited in the Internal Revenue Manual (IRM) and make recommendations on how the criteria can be improved.”

Results: Issue 3223 will be kept “active” and since it is related to the previous issue discussed, DiMartino will be calling Meyer to obtain clarification and the Chair will be reporting back to the committee.

Brubaker/Bru addressed Issue # 3228, Efiling Alternates & Interactive Forms, this issue states: “Research alternatives to the present efiling system.”

After a brief discussion about the money issue and cost involved; the Tax wise Software Package, IRS free forms, and inquiries made on why this can’t be downloaded by the public at no cost to the taxpayer, the committee decided to create a subcommittee to study this issue further. Panel also discussed that the previous TAP Efile Committee had met its goal and that issue committee has been discontinued. Members were reminded that the government’s goal is to encourage all taxpayers to do efile.

Results: Issue #3228 will be kept “active” and a sub-committee was created.

Theodore Perros led the discussion on Issue # 2389, Improve Communications to Taxpayers, this issue states: Many of the IRS informational bulletins are not written for the “average taxpayer”- perhaps committee will begin by reviewing Publication 519, “U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens”.

Perros shared that he had started working on this project about a year ago; the report that he had shared with all prior to this call is self-explanatory he stated. It is Perros’ opinion that the flowchart illustration that is in Publication 519 is very confusing; many panel members agreed and stated that this is not an isolated example.

Results: Committee agreed that the next step will be to elevate Issue #2389. (Action item: Analyst is to prepare the recommendation as per TAP guidelines.)-At the time of this meeting it was uncertain if this issue will be elevated to the Joint or Ad hoc committee.

Bru addressed an issue that was brought to the panel’s attention by Panel Member Lynwood Sinnamon, Issue # 3234, Seniors’ Problems with Tax Matters, this issue states: “Senior Citizens Have Problems with Understanding Tax Matters.”

Panel agreed that some Senior Citizens make transactions and are not aware of the tax implications. The issue here seems to be more of an educational thing.

Committee discussed Publication 554, “Older Americans’ Tax Guide” and suggestions were made that perhaps this publication should be mailed out as part of their tax package. There seems to be an issue here since the IRS has been cutting back on mailing the tax package to all taxpayers. Maziarz brought up that this is not only a problem related to Seniors but also to those that have visual disabilities. Another concern that arose: Can this publication be shared by electronic means?

Results: Issue #3234 will be kept “active” and a sub-committee was created.

Next issue discussed was Steve Kreisler’s Issue #3231, Request Email Address for Panel Members, this issue states: “Create an email address that is dedicated solely to TAP business and to be used by all TAP Members.” TAP Manager Nancy Ferree reminded everyone of the current budget issue and also due to security reasons that this is not realistic. She noted how some members had created a separate account with “yahoo” services just for TAP mail. Members who had not done this yet were encouraged to do so. Committee agreed.

Results: Issue #3231, Request Email Address for TAP, will be dropped.

Faith Vinikoor shared Issue # 3236, E-file Services, this issue states: “E-file & the 100 Return Requirements and the fact that IRS provides free Package X to Practitioners (2 volumes) but charges $20.00 for CD’s.” Vinikoor stated that this should be two issues and not one. Action item: Analyst is to split this issue into 2 issues and update Issue Spreadsheet.

Vinikoor also shared that she had received this input from her outreach activity when she attended the Federal & State Tax Institute event back in November 2004 in Maryland.

The issues are:

1. Regarding E-services, why do Practitioners have to do 100 returns in order to be eligible for e-services? And,
2. CD’s should be cheaper.

Results: Issue will be kept as a “new” issue for now; Ms. Vinikoor will be conducting some research and sharing her findings with the committee by the next meeting. The committee will decide then if they will pursue the issue.

Christine Hurley had sent out an email to family and friends informing them of her involvement with the TAP program, and requested input from them on IRS customer service issues; as a result, Issue # 3238, “Accessibility via Telephone, Rapid Refund, and Expanded Website was created. Ms. Hurley requested that this issue be tabled for discussion during the next meeting. Action item: Issue #3238 will be tabled for discussion next month.

Issue # 3235, “Suggestion Provided- Form 2553” — (Election by a Small Business Corporation)- during a recent outreach event, Steve Rue attended an IRS Conference in Virginia whereby he met the Local Taxpayer Advocate Mark Campbell. There was a discussion held regarding Form 2553, and the number of shares and Rue provided input to the IRS which was forwarded to the IRS and Rue was informed that his idea will be considered during the next revision of Form 2553.

Results: Issue # 3235 — Action item for Rue: Rue is to provide Chair DiMartino with a letter with all the details of what transpired at this meeting. Then a letter will be sent to the Joint Committee in order to ensure that this issue does not fall off the track and at the same time that the Area 2 is acknowledged for this.

Brubaker addressed Issue # 3239, Provide Tax Forms to All — this issue states: “Tax forms and instructions should be provided to all taxpayers regardless if they efile or not.” This issue was a response received from the email Ms. Hurley had sent out.
Brubaker suggested that when folks file this year, if there is a check-off box indicating if they want to receive a booklet next year, perhaps Ms. Hurley would like to work on the recommendation. Others chimed in and stated that this is a good time for the IRS to look at the 1040 form.

Results: Issue # 3239 may be a possible recommendation and a sub-committee will be formed led by Christine Hurley.

Issue # 3237, Translation of Speak-up Outreach Flyer Self-Mailer, issue states: “TAP Speak-up Flyer #13384 should be made available to Spanish speaking taxpayers specifically during outreach efforts”-Lynwood Sinnamon had made this suggestion and shared that he just learned from AARP that they are prohibited from promoting these types of items. Discussion followed whereby EITC, Earned Income Tax Credit forms have been translated into Spanish. Discussion also was held that this may still be elevated to the Joint Committee.

Results: Issue # 3237 will be dropped for now.

Creation of Sub-Committees
Issue #3228, Efiling Alternatives, is composed of Brubaker, Hurley, & McElroy.

Issue #3234, Seniors’ Problems with Tax Matters, is composed of Sinnamon, Brubaker, Tillerson, and Vinikoor.

Issue #3239, Provide Tax Forms to All, will be led by Christine Hurley.

Outreach Efforts
Chair addressed briefly the Outreach Activities Report and noted that this committee has been very active.

Introductory Letter
Chair thanked Lynwood for the “Outreach Introductory Letter” he had composed and suggested that it be used by everyone in this committee. (This letter was shared with all prior to this meeting.) Ferree had highlighted that the only correction she saw was that the TAP is a Federal Advisory to the IRS and not to the Treasury. Correction has been made. Some members mentioned that they have used it but have not received any responses yet.

Criteria (Metric Scoring for Year End Report)
Due to time constraints, this matter brought to the panel’s attention by Sinnamon will be tabled for discussion at a future meeting. Action item: table for future discussion when Sinnamon will be available to address.

Public Input
None

Closing/Assessment
Before closing, Brubaker inquired about the 2004 TAP Annual Report, and Ferree responded that it is currently being printed. Extra copies will be made available.

McElroy mentioned that he had met with the North Carolina Local Taxpayer Advocate and had just received an email from her referencing the National Taxpayer Advocate’s 2004 Report to Congress which is about 700 pages.

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/ntafy2004annualreport.pdf

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/nta2004arcvol2interactive.pdf

Ferree thanked everyone for adhering to the agenda.

Chair adjourned meeting.

Confirm next meeting February 18 & 19, 2005, face-to-face in Columbia, SC

* These minutes were approved by the TAP Area 2 committee on February 18, 2005, by consensus.