Taxpayer Advocacy Panel

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. DiMartino briefly shared the following with all:

The current TAC Centers funding issues situation.

New Joint Committee Issue Referral Form is currently being revised and Inez will be sharing the final one with all as soon as it is made available to share.

Committee’s Annual Assessment Report- DiMartino will be asking 2-3 members to assist him with the drafting of this report soon. Sinnamon mentioned the metric system for measuring performance.

Dropped Issue-#2590, Notice of Deficiency Experience by Power of Attorney- Timely Filed Issue- DiMartino recently spoke to the CPA who had brought this matter to the previous committee’s attention. Vinikoor and DiMartino recalled that this had something to do with the “combination letter problem” related to audits whereby he had responded in 29 days but received a notice of deficiency dated 3 days later. Vinikoor will conduct some research and get back to the chair. She believes that the EITC Issue Committee may have some information on this. It was decided that there is nothing further the committee can do; the NTA’s 2004 Report to Congress, and GAO report(s) have addressed this. This issue will be placed in “Parking Lot” status, and Chair will write a letter to the CPA once research is conducted.

Issue # 3238-Usability of IRS Website- DiMartino made reference to a recent email from Christine Hurley which indicated that she has not heard from the individual that originally brought this issue to her attention, and therefore, she suggested that this issue be dropped. Decision: All agreed that Issue # 3238 be dropped.

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

Agenda Items
Brubaker’s Report – Update on Issue # 3239- Provide Tax Forms to All:
Bru reported that Area 3 which has taken the lead on this issue has expressed their gratitude to this committee for their joint efforts, and the Referral has been elevated to the Joint Committee.

Kasturi’s Update on Issue # 3550- Power of Attorney:
Kasturi shared that research had been conducted by himself, Steve Rue, and Inez, in addition to his discussion with other CPA’s, and all agreed that there is no limitation to Power of Attorneys. Kasturi made a motion that this issue be dropped. Decision: All agreed that Issue # 3550 be dropped.

Vinikoor’s Update on Issue # 3546-Form 1040NR-Add a Line for Dependent Spouse:
Faith reported on the Form 1040NR, and Inez reported also on her research. The Local Taxpayer Advocate (LTA) in Puerto Rico has stated that this is still a big problem when returns are received attached to a W-7 Form, Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN); there is an on-going processing problem which needs to be revised. He is willing to assign a subject matter expert (SME) to discuss this further. Program Manager Nancy L. Ferree will be calling the LTA to make the necessary arrangements. Decision: Committee agreed to place this issue for now in “Parking Lot Status”; Nancy will obtain the SME, and for the record, the sub-committee for this issue is composed of Vinikoor and Woo. (Interim letter to CPA will be sent)

2 Proposals to Joint Committee:
1) Issue # 3295-Limited Liability (LLC) & Form SS-4
Kasturi gave a recap of the Referral that he had created and had shared with the entire committee. Roll call was taken in order to gain consensus. Decision: All agreed that Issue # 3295 be elevated to the Joint Committee. Nancy Ferree shared that it is her responsibility to ensure that all elevated issues are reviewed and formatted correctly. Also, since we are waiting for the revised JC Issue Referral Form, we want to be sure to submit a quality product. Nancy and Inez will work on finalizing the referral.

2) Issue # 3475, AARP/TCE Program e-file Issues
Kasturi gave a recap of the Referral that he had created and had shared with the entire committee. Kasturi confirmed that this is not VITA related. Roll call was taken in order to gain consensus. Decision: Committee agreed that Issue # 3475 is ready to be elevated, but it should be split into individual issues before elevating for the sake of clarity. Nancy and Inez will work on this and share with Kasturi and committee before it is submitted as final.

Sinnamon’s Update on Issue # 3234, Seniors Problems with Tax Matters, and Review of Publication 554- Older American’s Tax Guide
Sinnamon and Vinikoor both gave a recap of where they stood with the review of Pub 554; Vinikoor will compose the draft Issue Referral and share with the committee as soon as possible. The sub-committee is aware of the August deadline for submission of suggestions to Forms and Publications. Decision: Once this is done, Issue # 3234 will be ready to be sent to the Joint Committee.

Review New Issues
# 3502-Accessibility of Information Regarding Tax Exempt/Non-Profit Organizations
Citizen from WV suggested that information should be readily available for organizations seeking tax exempt status and that the length of time it takes to get it approved is too long. Committee discussed and Rue shared that he deals with these a lot and there is legal work involved sometimes. Decision: Committee agreed to drop Issue # 3502. (Letter to Citizen will be sent)

# 3551- IRS Fraud Hot Line-Lack of Communication
Citizen from NC commented that the IRS Fraud Hot Line does not provide status information to anyone after fraudulent information is reported to them. Committee agreed that due to the issue of disclosure and confidentiality, it is understandable why no information is disclosed. Decision: Committee agreed to drop Issue # 3551. (Letter to citizen will be sent)

# 3572- Consolidation of Schedule D & D-1 (Form 1040)
Sonny Kasturi led the discussion regarding this matter: suggesting that this form be revised by eliminating the need of a detailed listing of each trade, and be replaced by a summary of the annual trades. Decision: Committee agreed to place Issue # 3572 in Parking Lot status and since Issue # 3575 is related it will be captured as one.

# 3573-What does the IRS Acceptance of Return Mean?
Kasturi shared that the IRS should consider establishing a de-minimums information set that return acknowledgments provided by ERO’s should contain. Decision: Committee agreed to place Issue # 3573 in parking lot status and that this may be related to Issue # 3475-AARP/TCE Program e-file issues and Publication 1345, Handbook for Authorized IRS e-file Providers of Individual Income Tax Returns.

# 3575- Tax Prep Software Program – Export Data Issue
Kasturi shared another issue that he received from his networking with other tax practitioners: with more and more taxpayers trading hundreds of times a year, IRS’ requirement to list each trade in Schedule D is time consuming, costly, and becomes a source of errors and barrier to efile. Adding to the complexity are that not all tax prep software programs communicate well with the broker’s systems, and not all brokers offer detailed listing download. This is a serious impediment to using efile by taxpayers and tax practitioners. Decision: Committee agreed to drop Issue # 3575 and combine it with Issue # 3572.

Public Input
None

Outreach
Elizabeth Warnecki and Lyn Sinnamon both shared their recent outreach experiences.

Office Report
Ferree gave an update on the TAP interviews and thanked all the panel members that assisted during this process. Also, she reminded everyone that all the TAP Program Managers and Analysts will be attending their CPE (Continuing Professional Education) during the week of August 1-5, 2005, and if they need any assistance during this time, they should contact the TAP Secretary, Jenny Y. Reyes.

Action/Assignment Review:

Chair

Will provide the committee with a Joint Committee Report via email on what transpires during the July 20th call.
Will begin drafting the committee’s annual assessment report with the assistance of 2-3 members.
Will write letter to CPA regarding Issue # 2590, Notice of Deficiency Experience by Power of Attorney

Committee Members

Faith Vinikoor will provide chair with information from EITC regarding the combination letter for Issue # 2590.
Brubaker and McElroy will be reviewing and prioritizing all the area 2 issues in Parking Lot Status and report back to the committee.
Vinikoor will be drafting the JC Issue Referral Form for Issue # 3234 and share with entire committee before it is elevated.

Analyst

Inez will be sharing the revised Joint Committee Issue Referral Form as soon as it is made available.
Inez will make sure that the Meeting Satisfaction Survey is made available to all by placing it on TAPSpeak.
Inez will update all the area 2 issues that were discussed during this call on the TAP Contact Database and provide the chair with an updated issue matrix in time for his monthly report to the Joint Committee.
Inez will provide Brubaker and McElroy with a list of all the current Parking Lot Issues and their order of being received by the panel.

Manager

Nancy Ferree will contact the LTA in Puerto Rico in order to make arrangements to obtain a subject matter expert that is familiar with the Processing Issues in regards to the Form 1040NR and Request for ITIN’s. (Issue # 3546)
Nancy and Inez will work together to finalize Issue Referral # 3295 to the Joint Committee.
Nancy and Inez will work together to make revisions to Referral # 3475 by making 3 separate referrals, and sharing final product with Kasturi and the entire committee before submitting.

Closing/Assessment

DiMartino shared that he will be asking the Co-Vice Chairs to review and prioritize all the area 2 issues that are currently in “Parking Lot” Status.
Inez will be placing the Meeting Satisfaction Survey on TAPSpeak.
Chair DiMartino adjourned the meeting and reminded everyone that the next teleconference meeting will be held on August 16, 2005, from 1:30-3:00 PM ET.

*These minutes were approved by the TAP Area #2 Committee on August 16, 2005.