Area 2 Committee Meeting Minutes

Date: August 16, 2005
Via: Teleconference

Designated Federal Official

• Terry Mapp, LTA, DFO

Committee Members Present

• Paul Brubaker, York, PA, Co-Vice-Chair
• Anthony DiMartino, Toms River, NJ, Chair
• C. Morgan Edwards, Charlotte, NC
• Sonny Kasturi, West Orange, NJ
• Patrick McCombie, Wilmington, DE
• Paul McElroy, Winston Salem, NC, Co-Vice-Chair
• Steve Rue, Mechanicsville, VA
• Agnes Tillerson, Erie, PA
• Faith Vinikoor, Baltimore, MD
• Elizabeth Warnecki, Ladson, SC
• Bill Bly, Wayne, PA
• David Cain, Marlinton, WV
• Lillian (Beadsie) Woo, Durham, NC

Committee Members Absent

• Christine Hurley, Lorton, VA
• Bob Maziarz, Hainesport, NJ
• Theodore Perros, Washington, DC
• Steve Kreisler, Potomac, MD
• Martin Romeril, Bethlehem, PA
• Lynwood Sinnamon, Arlington, VA

TAP Staff

• Inez E. De Jesus, TAP Program Analyst
• Nancy L. Ferree, TAP Program Manager, Plantation, FL

Welcome
Chair Tony DiMartino opened the meeting by welcoming everyone.

Roll Call
13 members were present- quorum of 11 was met.

Review Agenda
Committee approved the agenda.

Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes
The July 19, 2005 meeting minutes were approved by consensus.

Chair Report
DiMartino shared that the next Joint Committee meeting will be held tomorrow, and that he will keep the committee informed of what transpires via email. He also indicated that members can find the Area 2 meeting survey form on TAPSPEAK, and he encouraged all members to complete and submit the form. Paul Brubaker shared information regarding the conference call recently with GAO on the TAC closings. The GAO report will be available in November 2005.

Chair DiMartino advised that Paul McElroy, Paul Brubaker, and Lynwood Sinnamon will assist with the preparation of Area 2’s Annual self-assessment report.

Brief Review of Action Items
Nancy L. Ferree stated that all action items from previous meeting are on today’s agenda for discussion.

Status of Pending Issues

• Issue #3475 – AARP/TCE Program E File Issues
  Manager Ferree reported that she and staff have reviewed the recommendation. It appears to have three separate issues. (1.Lack of confirmation of receipt of return by ERO, 2. training of volunteers, 3. programming IRS computers to accept AGI). Ferree advised that there is a possibility of a VITA issue committee being established for the next year. There is also a sub-committee on VITA (volunteer) issues that may be formulated to address some of the very issues in this proposed elevated recommendation. All members agreed by consensus to send this information to the VITA sub-committee when the sub-committee is formed. The TAP staff will monitor the creation of the committee and when appropriate will forward the information in this recommendation to the sub-committee.

• Issue #3295- Limited Liability (LLC) & Form SS-4 & Instructions
  This issue was reviewed for format and finalized with minor changes. The committee agreed to the changes and it will be elevated with the August 2005 monthly chair report.

• Issue #3234- Pub 554 Older Americans Tax Guide
  This issue was reviewed for format and finalized with minor changes. The committee agreed to the changes and it will be elevated with the August 2005 monthly chair report.

Paul McElroy’s report of status of issues in Parking Lot

#1309 Simplify Form 1041 Instructions- Elevated to Denise Fayne, Forms & Pubs by the Joint Committee on August 12, 2005.

# 2389 Simplify Communications to Taxpayers- Drop

# 3228 Efiling Alternates & Interactive Forms- Parking Lot

# 3391 IRS “Take Home Pay” Calculator- Drop

# 3456 Education Program on IRA’s to Seniors- Parking Lot (related to 3234)

# 3549 Expand Options for ES payments- Drop

# 3546 Form 1040NR: add line- Dependent Spouse- Active (sub-committee is Vinikoor, Woo, Bly, and Kreisler) * SME conference call has been scheduled.

# 3572 Consolidation of Schedule D & D-1- Active (sub-committee is Kasturi, Cain, Rue, Warnecki)

#3573 what does the IRS Acceptance of Return mean? Parking Lot (related to 3475)

#2590 Notice of Deficiency Experience by POA- Drop (Chair will send letter to CPA)

* Ferree will send conference call information to Bly and Kreisler so they can participate with the SME Juan Carlos Puig.

New Issues

• #3302 Automated Underreported Program (AUR) Toll Free Issue
  The issue will be designated as a parking lot item.

• #3446 Review Qualifications to become an e-file transmitter/RAL’s
  The e-file portion of this issue will be put in the parking lot, and the RAL portion will be transferred to Area 4, as they are working on this.

• #3582 Tele-file-IRS to Discontinue-August 2005
  Send to Area 7 to be combined with their issue. * A question arose about whether or not small business can have access to Free-File.

Public Input
None

Outreach
Sonny Kasturi attended the Tax Forum in New York City. He received 7 issues which will be assigned to Area 1 and Area 3.

Office Report
Ferree requested members’ comments regarding the decision to use TAPSPEAK as the primary communication tool by staff and panel members. Some members stated that using dial-up connections makes it difficult to use TAPSPEAK. Others who have DSL or Broadband indicate that using TAPSPEAK works well. A member who travels a lot likes TAPSPEAK as she is able to sign on wherever she is. Some members intend to change to DSL or Broadband in order to get faster connection and download speed. A couple members still have sign-on problems. Ferree indicated those who have problems signing on can contact the TAP office for assistance.

Closing/Assessment

• The meeting was adjourned at 2:56pm eastern.

• Inez has placed the Meeting Satisfaction Survey on TAPSpeak.

• Chair DiMartino adjourned the meeting and reminded everyone that the next teleconference meeting will be held September 20, 2005, from 1:30-3:00 PM ET.

These meeting minutes were approved by the area 2 committee on September 27, 2005, by consensus.