Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP)
Area 2 Committee
Meeting Minutes
Committee’s Teleconference Meeting
June 18, 2008 @ 2:30 PM ET
Designated Federal Official (DFO)
Sallie Chavez, Acting TAP Program Manager, Acting DFO
Members Present
James Brock, Williamsburg, VA
Emilio Cecchi, North Bethesda, MD
Benson Chapman, Wayne, NJ, Chair
Blanche Davis, Rehoboth Beach, DE
Steve Fulkrod, Bel Air, MD
Edward Johnson, Florence, NJ
Robert Haines, Lebanon, NJ
Carolyn Hutchinson, Fletcher, NC
Joseph Holley, Barboursville, WV
Louise McAulay, Florence, SC
Robert Patterson, York, PA
Members Absent
Kimberly Brown, Blakeslee, PA, Vice-Chair
Michael Bryant, Oakton, VA
Richard Grzebinski, Raleigh, NC
Robert McQuiston, Bryn Mawr, PA
Peter Welch, Mooresville, NC
Staff Present
Anita Fields, Management Assistant/Note Taker
Donna Powers, TAP Analyst
Guest(s) Present
Ray Boyle, Alternate from Pennsylvania
Jose Martinez, Potential TAP member from Delaware
Joel Lawson, Alternate from Delaware
Welcome & Roll Call
Chair Ben Chapman opened the meeting by welcoming everyone.
Roll call was taken and quorum was met.
Joint Committee (JC) Report
Ben reported that the Annual Business Meeting is going to be 1-5 December in Arlington, VA. He mentioned that the Joint Committee face-to face meeting is being held this week in St. Louis, MO.
TAP Application Progress and Information on Participation from Members with the Interview Process
Donna stated that the interviews are going very well and she feels that we have some really good candidates. Ben asked how many interviews are scheduled for Area 2. There are 26 candidates and only five slots open, but we do need alternates.
Approve Meeting Minutes May 21, 2008
The May Meeting Minutes were approved as written by consensus.
Screening Committee Review of New Issue(s):
Issue 4806, Expatriate Issues IRS Website User Friendly— Military and non-military expatriates are having a hard time finding user friendly resources on the IRS website that suit their needs. This is pertaining to the way information is presented and how it addresses their needs as individuals. They would like to see page or site specific to Expats that provides better guidance for tax
preparation. The current information is filtered through the link for international taxpayers. The person indicated a need for a format, more than a “here is the law” format. The screening subcommittee recommends that this issue be worked and it becomes issue # 3 on the priority list.
Issue 4807, Request for Installment agreements— Persons who have submitted requests for installment payments still get quarterly receipts and a letter requesting payment before an answer is received from the IRS approving or disapproving the request for installment payments. They are confused and do not know if they should be complying with the letter or wait for the IRS determination. The screening subcommittee feels that they need a little more information before making a decision on this issue. Ben asked Ed Johnson to send additional information to Steve Fulkrod on this issue to consider this issue at the next call.
Issue 4808, Taxpayers’ Ability to View Accounts On-line—This issue is currently being worked by the IRS. The screening subcommittee recommends not working this issue and placing it in a monitoring status. Ed Johnson will monitor.
Issue 4809, Refund Anticipated Loans (RALs) High Fees— Refund Anticipated Loans (RAL'S) - Amount of fees accessed on these loans are astronomical. The IRS regulates the tax preparers; they can't regulate the loan affiliation. Since this issue is on the National Taxpayer Advocate's radar screen, perhaps the committee may want to address the educational and or customer service aspect of this issue. Why does IRS reveal "Debt Indicator"? The screening subcommittee recommends that the issue not be worked.
Issue 4810, IRS Toll Free Line Wait Time— Wait time when calling the IRS toll-free line is exceptionally long. Waiting for 45-60 minutes before a "live" Person picks up the phone is way too long. Sallie stated that the TAB blueprint made a report to Congress and it stated that they will start a pilot program this fall on a wait time on the toll free line. If you go on the website under the TAB Blueprint you can read the report. Joe Holley stated that, this is good to hear because the screening subcommittee was going to recommend not working the issue.
All recommendations were agreed on by consensus from the entire committee.
Subcommittee Report(s) on Active Issues:
- Issue 3997, Terminate “S” Election
Bob Haines reported that he is almost done and should have it out in a couple of days. It is being revised to take into account that they changed the form and not the instructions or the regulation.
- Issue 4056, Small Business Volunteer Tax Services
Bob Patterson reported that there was a similar issue on this in 2007 from Area 2. There was a response and they are trying to get the information on that response and what the IRS is actually doing. There were a number of recommendations under this issue. We want to know what they are doing and not doing and what they are considering at this point and time. Donna is researching this now and we plan to get something out next month.
- Issue 4628, Estimated Tax Package
Ben reported on behalf of Bob Mc Quiston because he was not present. This issue is being considered by SAMS. In there process of consideration they wanted to continue to communicate with Bob and his subcommittee. They have received the write-up on the issue. He is still waiting to hear back from the SAMS analyst to give a status on their progress. We will continue to monitor the progress.
- Issue 4256, EFTPS Delay in Posting of Tax Payment
Blanche reported that she received a response from the SAMS analyst stating that they have tried three times to contact the person who submitted the issue. They determined that they are going to drop the issue because the SAMS analyst could not get the information needed to work the issue. Ben Chapman feels that since this was submitted to TAP then we should work it. Blanche asked the committee if we should drop it or continue to work it. Bob Patterson suggests that TAP send a formal letter to the CPA stating that the issue can’t be worked without more information. Jim Brock suggest that TAP recommend to the IRS to include in their Tax Tips that there may be a delay in posting payments due to the process in which they are received. This will make people aware that there may be a potential problem. The committee decided to put a suggestion together to the IRS on placing something the IRS website in frequently asked questions or Tax Tips explaining that there may be a potential delay with the posting of tax payments.
- Issue 4566, Taxpayer Option(s) on Forms Distribution
Blanche Davis reported that the issue was forwarded to Joint Committee and it is on the agenda to be discussed at the Joint Committee Face-to-Face this week. This issue is now complete.
Ben Chapman stated that we can now take priority one issue, Issue 4729 out of the parking lot and work it. Jim Brock, Blanche Davis, Joe Holley and Carol Hutchinson have volunteered to be on the subcommittee with Jim Brock as the chair.
Outreach Events
Ben reported that there were 22 events for May. He stated that, that is kind of low and he encourage you to pick up the outreach. Ben mentioned that he is scheduled to do a presentation on outreach at the Joint Committee and he expect to get input from other area chairs and will bring back any suggestions on how to get more outreach on next month’s call.
Public Input
Ray Boyle stated that he sent some information pertaining to Issue 4729. There is some good information on the IRS website in their lifecycle series particular dealing with tax facts for seniors. You can either order or download brochures and they deal with caregivers and the death of a spouse etc.
Closing Assessment/Q&A/Meeting Survey
Carol Hutchinson reported on the monitor status on Issue 4515. The VITA subcommittee is has taken this under consideration. Ben stated that if they take it fine and if not then it will stay with Area 2. Joe Holley stated that all of the outreach is not being reported because he noticed that his May outreach was not included in the combined report. Donna apologized that there have been a lag with the transition of her and Inez. If any member notices that their outreach is not included on the combined report to please let her know.
Ben stated to please complete the meeting survey and thanked everyone for attending.
Meeting adjourned at 3:20pm EST.
Next Teleconference Meeting: July 16, 2008 at 2:30 PM ET.
*Certification: These minutes were approved by the TAP Area 2 committee, by consensus, on 16 July, 2008. |
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