Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP)
Area 2 Committee
Meeting Minutes

Committee’s Teleconference Meeting
September 19, 2007 @ 2:30 PM ET

Designated Federal Official (DFO)
Lois G. Lombardo, Local Taxpayer Advocate, Philadelphia, PA

Members Present
Bill Bly, Wayne, PA
Kimberly Brown, Blakeslee, PA, Vice-Chair
Emilio Cecchi, North Bethesda, MD
Benson Chapman, Wayne, NJ
Blanche Davis, Rehoboth Beach, DE
Steve Fulkrod, Bel Air, MD
Robert Haines, Lebanon, NJ
Carolyn Hutchinson, Fletcher, NC
Sonny Kasturi, West Orange, NJ
Paul McElroy, Bethania, NC
Lyn Sinnamon, Arlington, VA, Chair
Elizabeth Warnecki, Ladson, SC

Members Absent
Paul Brubaker, York, PA
Michael Bryant, Oakton, VA
William Yaeger, Alexandria, VA

Staff Present
Nancy L. Ferree, Plantation, FL, TAP Program Manager
Inez E. De Jesus, TAP Program Analyst & Note Taker

Guest(s) Present
Vladimir Turkeltaub, Enrolled Agent, NJ

Welcome & Roll Call
Chair Lyn Sinnamon opened the meeting by welcoming everyone.

Roll call was taken and quorum of 8 was met.

Joint Committee (JC) Report
Ben Chapman provided the following information from the Joint Committee’s September 5, 2007 meeting: (Ben participated on Lyn Sinnamon’s behalf)

• The TAP Director’s report for this meeting is available on TAP Space.
• Where are the issues? There was only one issue approved at the JC to be elevated.
• Procedure for election of TAP Chair and Vice-Chair decision will be made at the next JC meeting.  Discussion involved third year members who won’t be at the annual meeting.  The new members can vote but they don’t know who they are voting for.  Many members favored the email election process prior to the annual meeting. 

Chair Lyn Sinnamon followed with the following comments:

• There is money available for outreach thru the end of September 2007.
• The 2006 TAP Annual Report should be published soon.

Area 2 Dinner in Georgetown, DC on December 12, 2007
Send your ideas directly to Lyn via email.  He has several suggestions but welcomes input from all.

Report on IRS Commissioners’ Meeting
Ben Chapman shared that a small group of TAP Members met with Acting Commissioner Kevin Brown followed by a smaller group which met with Richard Morgante, Commissioner of Wage and Investment.  Reports on this meeting are available on TAP Space.  The meeting went well.  Mr. Morgante thinks that TAP is important.  Acting IRS Commissioner Linda Stiff wasn’t at the meeting due to a prior commitment.  Hopefully Messrs. Brown and Morgante will brief Ms. Stiff on all issues.

Ben pointed out that not only was Kevin Brown leaving the IRS, Richard Morgante, Commissioner of Wage and Investment was leaving.

Lyn mentioned that the handout prepared for the meeting with the IRS Commissioner can be used for outreach in the future.

Review/Confirm Meeting Minutes- August 15, 2007
These minutes were approved by consensus.

Where are the issues?
Lyn Sinnamon and Steve Fulkrod brought up a concern regarding on “How can we generate more issues?”  Lyn suggested that the committee attempt to get issues resolved before the new year; also, third year members should pass all information to the remaining members.

Lyn also elaborated on the committee not getting discouraged; issues should be sent up regardless of how long it takes to elevate an issue.

Ben Chapman mentioned outreach experiences where citizen mention problems (personal ones) but not systemic issues.

Approve revised Proposal 3944; Instructions on Tax Treatment of Litigation Settlement Proceeds- Sonny opened the floor for comments.  All agreed by consensus to elevate this issue to the Joint Committee.  (Ben Chapman and Carolyn Hutchinson will be added to this subcommittee since currently there are members on this team that will be rotating off this year)

Inez advised the committee that elevated Issue 4011, Form 8863, Education Credits, is currently on TAP Space in the Joint Committee’s Discussion Folder.

Subcommittee Reports On Active Issues:

Issue 3997, Terminate “S” Election- Bob Haines indicated that he was awaiting responses back from the sub-committee.  Kim and Ben indicated that they had responded back a while ago; Bob asked them to please re-send.  Next month the sub-committee will update the entire committee.

Issue 4182, Standardization of 1099 Forms- Nancy Ferree shared that the sub-committee held a teleconference with IRS Subject Matter Experts and there are some legal issues involved; another teleconference is pending.

*Steve Fulkrod brought up that since Issue 3944 is being elevated, and there will be only 2 active issues for the committee to work on, it is time to bring out from Parking Lot status to Active status the following issues:

# 4155, Schedule D Carryover Losses, Subcommittee:  Bill Bly, Ben Chapman, Sonny Kasturi, and Emilio Cecchi.

#3948, Form 944, Change Threshold, Subcommittee:  Sonny Kasturi, Kim Brown, and Elizabeth Warnecki.

Review for Proper Closing Status on Responses Received from the IRS:

TAP 04-050, Issue 1309, Simplify Form 1041 Instructions- Committee agreed by consensus:  Closed:  Partially Accepted. 

Sonny Kasturi suggested that there may be a new related issue to come out of this one.  Bob Haines promised to review Form 1041 since it is a form he is very familiar with and will let the screening committee know if there is a potential for a new issue.

TAP 05-014, Issue 3392, Form 1065 Schedule D Changes- Committee agreed by consensus:  Closed: Proposal Accepted.

TAP 206-017B, Issue 3634 Part 2, Schedule C-EZ Changes- Committee agreed by consensus:  Closed:  Proposal Rejected.

Outreach Events
Kim Brown reported that last month the committee had 22 outreach activities and this month so far there are only 7 on record.  She encouraged members to conduct local outreaches in their communities.

A brief discussion was held on different ways to do outreach. 

LTA Lois Lombardo shared the importance of coordinating efforts with your local taxpayer advocates who usually have a booth already at the events which can be shared with TAP Members.

Nancy Ferree reminded everyone that if they become aware of an event to just let the staff know.

Public Input
Enrolled Agent Vladmimir Turkeltaub from Northern New Jersey expressed an interest in volunteering next year to become a panel member and was interested in hearing during today’s call what TAP was all about.

Closing Assessment/Q&A/Meeting Survey
Chair Lyn Sinnamon reminded everyone to fill out the meeting survey; this was a good meeting, and meeting was adjourned.

Next Teleconference Meeting:  October 17, 2007 at 2:30 PM ET