Area 2 Committee
Meeting Minutes
October 18, 2006

Committee’s Teleconference Meeting
October 18, 2006 @ 2:30 PM ET

Designated Federal Official (DFO)
Nancy Ferree, TAP Program Manager and Acting DFO, Plantation, FL

Members Present
Bill Bly, Wayne, PA
Paul Brubaker, York, PA,
Emilio Cecchi, N. Bethesda, MD, Vice Chair
JoAnn Davis, Scott Depot, WV
Blanche Davis, Rehoboth Beach, DE
Robert Haines, Lebanon, NJ
Paul McElroy, Pfafftown, NC, Chair
Lyn Sinnamon, Arlington, VA
Elizabeth Warnecki, Ladson, SC
Lee Congdon, Washington, DC
Lillian (Beadsie) Woo, Durham, NC
Martin Romeril, Bethlehem, PA

Members Absent
Sonny Kasturi, West Orange, NJ

Staff Present
Inez E. De Jesus, TAP Program Analyst
Isai Pallango, Intern & Note taker

Guest(s)
Mr. Ben Chapman (Potential Panel Member from New Jersey)

Welcome
Chair Paul McElroy opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and acknowledged guest Mr. Ben Chapman.

Roll Call
Quorum of 8 was met.

Joint Committee Report and Review Status of Elevated Issues:

• Issue 3634 - Self-employed Taxpayers’ Free Tax Preparation

Chair Paul McElroy stated that this issue was approved by the Joint Committee; some rewording was made. McElroy also shared that although Sonny Kasturi had some reservations he later changed his mind and gave the okay to forward the proposal.

• Issue 3736 - EFTPS Registration Procedure

Chair Paul McElroy stated this issue was approved by the Joint Committee; some rewording was made. McElroy shared that he and Sonny Kasturi assisted with the retyping of the document.

• Issue 3925 - Option for Access to Person on IRS Toll-Free Lines

Chair Paul McElroy stated this issue was approved by the Joint Committee without any changes. 

• Issue 3747- Electronic Filing of 1099’s

Chair Paul McElroy stated this issue was approved by the Joint Committee; significant rewording was made. Chair McElroy will obtain a copy of the final version from Barbara Toy and would like for area 2 members to review.

Chair Paul McElroy stated that 14 out of 19 issues were accepted. Other issues were sent back for significant rewording and in some cases, combine with others.

Consider Bi-Monthly Teleconference Meetings
TAP Chair Larry Combs raised the issue of having bi-monthly teleconference meetings in 2007, for up to 1-1/2 hours instead of one hour. This will allow TAP staff to be more available to assist with sub-committee meetings.

Chair Paul McElroy and DFO Ferree requested committee vote for possible bi-monthly meetings. Intern Isai Pallango took roll call of Area 2 committee to seek vote of “yes” or “no” for bi-monthly meetings. Six members voted YES and six members voted NO for bi-monthly meetings. This issue will be discussed in more detail during the next call.  DFO Ferree shared that the goal was to have the decisions made prior to the annual meeting.  In the interim, chair will provide an interim response to the TAP Chair. This topic will be discussed in more detail during next month’s teleconference meeting.

DFO Ferree requested that the panel consider whether they would like to continue to meet on the third Wednesdays of the month at 2:30 PM ET.  There were no objections.

Annual Meeting Agenda
Chair Paul McElroy mentioned the TAP Annual Meeting, December 11-14, 2006, (Monday through Thursday). The complete agenda was reviewed and discussed during the Dallas meeting.

A request was made on when will the agenda for the annual meeting be made available for all to see.

DFO Nancy Ferree mentioned that during the annual meeting, On Sunday, December 10th, there will be a meet and greet time in the hotel lobby for members to meet one another. Special name tags, specifically for new members, will be created for all to be able to identify one another.  The following day, there will be a social hour during the early evening.  More details on hotel reservations and annual meeting details will be made available in the near future; draft of agenda is still under construction. 

TAP Chair and Vice Chair Election
Chair Paul McElroy stated that chair and vice chair candidates of TAP are encouraged to declare their interest before the annual meeting. New members can declare on first day of annual meeting. Candidates will make speeches on late Monday afternoon and voting will take place from then until break time on Tuesday morning. Results will be announced at the end of the break. The area committee will elect chair and vice chair after that.

Annual Assessments
Chair Paul McElroy mentioned that each chair is requested to submit an assessment of the work of their committee for the year and submit it after the annual meeting. McElroy requested that Program Analyst Inez De Jesus send the form out to the entire panel and have it returned back to him and/or Inez by the week after the annual meeting.  These will be summarized and finalized.

Chair Paul McElroy mentioned that it is time to plan the location and dates for the area face-to- face meeting next year. It was discussed that earlier in the year will be best. The committee relies on the staff to provide information on the best location for the meeting. Committee is considering perhaps late February or early March of 2007. Three members stated some scheduling conflicts. Panel members suggested and agreed that this could be decided prior to the next call via e-mail.

Emilio Cecchi discussed the screening committee meeting time and his desire is to have meeting on same day of area 2 committee meeting and having meeting as close as possible to area 2 meeting in order to minimize members’ time requirements. The concern is that will he have sufficient time to send out the screening committee’s recommendations on the new issues for all to review within ample time.  Chair Paul McElroy understood it’s a convenient time, but operationally it’s a bad time. 

Approve Previous Meeting Minutes September 20, 2006
These minutes were approved by consensus.  Committee agreed to approve future minutes via email in order to save time during the call(s).

Update on Stakeholders’ Information
DFO Terry Mapp shared via e-mail after this call (she apologized for not being able to be on the call): “Please be advised that advice back from Dave Yeskoo (SBSE South Atlantic Area) indicates that the contact with Lyn is a part of continuous and ongoing SBSE efforts to ensure that stakeholders are aware of local SBSE contacts and informed of their availability and willingness to provide support and assistance, as needed.  This initiative has been in place for time and is meant to target all stakeholders/IRS partners.”

Mentoring Process
Chair Paul McElroy shared that members should become more involved with the mentoring of new members.  Program Analyst De Jesus shared there will be seven new members assigned to area 2 and McElroy wanted current members to consider being a mentor. Nancy Ferree will post TAP Mentoring Process document on TAPspeak.

Review/Approve Draft Proposal(s): 

• Issue 3743- Revise Form W-9 & LLC Instructions

Congdon contacted the citizen on this issue and got a response that agrees with the need to revise the form which provides a proposed revision. Congdon explained that a modified form would make it easier to complete and the form should have a toll-free phone number. Panel members agreed by consensus to elevate issue to Joint Committee.

• Issue 3742- Private Letter Rulings-Increased User Fees

Brubaker stated that this issue targeted seniors in regards to IRA’s and those who did not understand the filing process and taxability. Panel members agreed by consensus to elevate this issue to Joint committee.

• Issue 3740- Offer-in-Compromise (OIC) Appeals Process

Elizabeth Warnecki stated issue was not reviewed by quality review team yet. Warnecki, Robert Haines and Program Analyst De Jesus met to review the proposal recently. Panel members agreed by consensus to elevate this issue to Joint Committee once it is reviewed by the quality review team.

Chair McElroy stated that it is now time to pull issues out of Parking lot status and make them active.  The next 3 issues to be addressed are:

1) Issue 3915, Transmission of Supporting Details for E-filed Returns-(Kasturi)
2) Issue 3951, Pub 560 & 590 Instructions –Simple IRA Rules- (Sinnamon)
3) Issue 3944, Tax Treatment of Securities Litigation- (Kasturi)

Program Analyst is to send out an email requesting who would like to work on the specific sub-committees with the leads as indicated above.

New Issues 
Screening committee chair Emilio Cecchi introduced the following new issues and the sub-committees recommendations:

• Issue 3997-Terminate “S” Election

Panel members agreed by consensus to place issue in parking lot.

• Issue 4009-TAC Offices Should Have Computers

Emilio Cecchi stated Area 3 has agreed to take the lead on this issue and wanted a representative from area 2 to volunteer.    Panel member Blanche Davis agreed to work with the Area 3 sub-committee.  There were no objections.

Due to lack of time, the following new issues will be discussed during next month’s call:

Issue 4011- Form 8863 Education Credits-
Recommendation is to place in parking lot status.

Issue 4016- Mileage Allowance for Volunteers Using Their Own Autos- Recommendation is that this may be legislative and not TAP- will be discussed further next month.

Emilio Cecchi requested that based on the results of today’s call, and changes in the status of issues, that there needs to be a ranking of issues in parking lot status. This will be an on-going activity as issues are elevated and new ones are placed in parking lot status.  Analyst will be sending out an email to all on this matter.

Sub-Committee Reports

• Issue 3739- Suggest Delayed Billing, Rewording of Notice

Martin Romeril addressed this issue and suggested that it be dropped since the Notices Committee is currently working on a lot of these types of notices, and since we were not able to obtain the specific number of this notice, it would be best to drop it. Panel members agreed by consensus to drop this issue.

Outreach Events Reports
Chair Paul McElroy shared that five panel members conducted outreach activities during the month of September, and Sonny did so from a hospital bed. Nancy Ferree mentioned that during the annual meeting in Washington, DC, there will be two Outreach workshops; one is for the new members, and the other one will be an Advanced one for returning panel members.

Public Input
Mr. Ben Chapman from New Jersey stated that bi-monthly meetings should be two hours. Chair McElroy thanked Mr. Chapman for his participation and input.

Action Items:

• Chair McElroy will obtain from TAP Analyst Barbara Toy the final version of Proposal 3747, Electronic Filing of 1099’s for the committee to review.
• Bi-Monthly Teleconference Meetings will be added to the November 15, 2006 agenda for further discussion and consideration.
• Program Analyst is to send out the Committee’s Self-assessment form to all to complete and return by no later than the week after the annual meeting.
• Program Analyst is to do a cost comparison for the location of next year’s face-to-face meeting and narrow down the tentative date(s).  She will communicate this via email.
• Program Analyst is to solicit subcommittee participants on the 3 new Active Area issues.
• Program Analyst is to send out information on the latest issues in Parking Lot status and solicit ranking preferences from members.

Closing Assessment / Q&A
Chair Paul McElroy confirmed that the next teleconference meeting will be held on November 15, 2006.

Chair McElroy adjourned the meeting.

The next teleconference meeting is scheduled for November 15, 2006 at 2:30 PM ET

Certification: These minutes were approved by the TAP Area 2 Committee by consensus on: November 15, 2006.