Area Committee Meeting Minutes
Area 3
February 22 - 24, 2007
New Orleans, Louisiana

Thursday, February 22, 2007
Friday, February 23, 2007
Saturday, February 24, 2007

Members in Attendance:
  
Byron Edwards, Roswell, GA (present 2/22, 23 & 24)
Dale Cooper, Atlanta, GA (present 2/22, 23 & 24)
Daryll Cordeiro, Mobile, AL (present 2/23 & 24)
Patrice Marker, Davie, FL (present 2/22, 23 & 24)
Bill Matheny, Long Beach, MS (present 2/24)
Hank Mosler, University Park, FL (present 2/22, 23 & 24)
Mark Paris, Panama City, FL (present 2/22, 23 & 24)
Al Rodriguez, Miami, FL (present 2/22, 23 & 24)
Max Scott, Baton Rouge, LA (present 2/22, 23 & 24)
Chuck Tice, Blytheville, AR (present 2/22, 23 & 24)
J. T. Wright, Carrollton, GA (present 2/22, 23 & 24)

Staff:

Mary Krobert, Acting DFO (present 2/22 & 23)
Sallie Chavez, TAP Program Analyst (present 2/22, 23 & 24)
Nancy Ferree, TAP Program Manager (present 2/22, 23 & Acting DFO on 24)
Bernie Coston, TAP Director (present 2/22, 23 & 24)

None

Committee Chair Hank Mosler welcomed everyone and introduced Mary Krobert who will be acting for Carolyn Lewis as the Designated Federal Official.  He also welcomed the additional committee members who were not able to attend the Annual Meeting in Washington in December.  He also thanked TAP Director Bernie Coston for coming to the meeting.

INTRODUCTIONS OF PANEL

Committee Members Al Rodriguez and Chuck Tice introduced themselves to the group.

REVIEW OF PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES

December 12, 2006 meeting minutes were accepted by consensus with one (1) change.

January 16, 2007 meeting minutes were accepted by consensus.

NATIONAL OFFICE REPORT

TAP Director Bernie Coston gave the following report:

• Feedback from committee members from the Annual Meeting was mostly positive.  Members were pleased to have longer committee meetings.
• The government is still under a continuing resolution and will be for the rest of the FY07.  He has submitted the budget request to the National Taxpayer Advocate.
• TAP members administered the TAC survey at various venues last week.
• There is a new site for the Annual Meeting scheduled for this year.  We will meet at the Fairmont Hotel near Georgetown December 10 – 14, 2007.
• TAP Manager Sandy McQuinn will be on a five to six month detail at the LITC Director.  TAP Analyst Steve Berkey will act for her for 30 days.
• Recruitment for this year starts on March 19 and runs until April 30.  It is selective recruiting as we will only recruit in the states where we need a member or an alternate.  This year we are looking to speed up the process.  The biggest delay is getting approvals from all the levels including, National Taxpayer Advocate, Commissioner and Secretary of Treasury.
• There was a press release issued with all the names of the new members listed.  Many members have been interviewed from this press release.
• There are three (3) Town Hall Meetings scheduled with the National Taxpayer Advocate this year.  They are – March 6 in Brooklyn along with the LITC there, March 22 in Omaha with the University of Nebraska and will be geared toward small business and March 29 in Tempe with Arizona State University.
• The National Taxpayer Advocate’s Report to Congress is available on CD and has been mailed to all offices.  He understands the CDs have already been mailed to the Area 3 members.
• TAP members will be doing a TAC Survey again in mid-March as a follow-up to the one just done.  They also will be surveying the employees.  The purpose of the survey is the need for the TACs to be there and the need for the services.  Committee Members Hank Mosler and Max Scott gave a short report on their visits to the TACs when they did their surveys.

LOCAL TAXPAYER ADVOCATE DESCRIPTION

Acting Designated Federal Official Mary Krobert described the duties of the local advocate.  She handed out a list of the local advocates in Area 3.

ACTION ITEM:  Committee Chair Hank Mosler asked everyone to contact their local advocate before the next conference call (March 20) about outreach opportunities.

CONSENSUS DECISION MAKING

Committee Member J. T. Wright discussed consensus decision making.

TAPSPACE REVIEW

TAP Program Analyst Sallie Chavez presented committee members with a lesson on how to input their bio on TAPSpace.  There was a short discussion about problems individuals were having with using the site.

ACTION ITEM:  All committee members will put their bio on TAPSpace before the next conference call (March 20) with picture, if possible.

TAP RECOMMENDATION WRITING

Committee Chair Hank Mosler held an open forum on writing efficiencies for recommendations.

CLOSING REMARKS

Committee Chair Hank Mosler asked the group for any comments they had about TAP.  During the round robin there were two concerns raised:

• Think of another name for issue committee.  Some concern that issue committees don’t really address issues.
• Need some type of “score card” for recommendations.

Adjourned for the day.

Friday, February 23, 2007

WELCOME/ANNOUNCEMENTS

Committee Chair Hank Mosler handed out meeting evaluations and asked that everyone make comments and submit it at the end of the meeting tomorrow.

OUTREACH

Committee Member Mark Paris and TAP Program Analyst Sallie Chavez presented outreach information.  There was a discussion about “what is outreach”.

ACTION ITEM:  All committee members will complete the outreach report and email it to TAP Program Analyst Sallie Chavez by the first of every month for the previous month’s outreach.

ACTION ITEM:  An order form to order outreach supplies will be created.

STATUS OF EXISITNG ISSUES

Issue 218 – Check-box Authority – Committee Member Dale Cooper reported for Committee Member Bill Matheny.  This is an educational issue.  It is still being worked and the subcommittee will write up something.

Issue 3671 – Name/SSN Mismatch – Committee Member Patrice Marker explained this issue was submitted to the Joint Committee but came back for further work.  The subcommittee wants to speak to someone in e-filing.  TAP Program Manger Nancy Ferree states she may have someone to speak to the committee.

Issue 3688 – Circular 230 Requirement – TAP Program Analyst Sallie Chavez reported the Circular 230 is being re-written.  Don’t know exactly when the rewrite be complete.  Will follow-up in June 2007.

Issue 3872 – Cost of Sending Duplicate Notices to Representative – TAP Program Analyst Sallie Chavez said she will follow-up on this issue.  The change should have been completed last month.

Issue 3910 – Delay in TAC Services – Committee Member Dale Cooper reported for Committee Member Bill Matheny.  This is a combined issue as there are many complaints received on this issue.  Area 3 is working with Areas 2 and 5 on this issue.  They have broken this issue into parts and hope to have some recommendations by April.

Issue 3929 – Lack of Annual Communication to Individual Taxpayer – This is a parking lot issue.  Will leave in parking lot.

Issue 4032 – CAF, POAs Not Entered Correctly – Committee Member Dale Cooper reported IRS will not accept an incorrect Form 2848 and will not contact the POA.  He suggests this issue be dropped.  It was dropped by consensus.

INTRODUCTION OF NEW ISSUES

Committee Member Dale Cooper led the discussion of the new issues received.

Issue 4059 – Lack of Communication in the IRS – There was discussion about this issue.  The POA could either call the local office or the toll-free number.  There was a discussion about the criteria for getting out communications (time-frame) on audits.  TAP Program Analyst will follow-up on this issue.  Will put in parking lot.

ACTION ITEM:  TAP Program Analyst will find out what the time-frame is on audits.

Issue 4069 – Poor Service Received at TAC Office – This issue will be combined with the other TAC Issues under Issue 3910.

Issue 4070 – TAC - Form not readily available – This issue will be combined with the other TAC Issues under Issue 3910.

Issue 4074 – Free File Available to More than Just Low-income – This is done through a vendor.  There are conditions that have to be met to free-file.  The National Taxpayer Advocate has made recommendations about this issue.  Congress has prohibited the IRS from providing free-file for everyone.  This is a legislative issue and will be dropped.  A response will be provided to citizen if contact information was provided.

Issue 4075 – Forms Unavailable in Time to File – There were law changes late in the year.  The IRS needs time to have the forms printed.  This is a legislative issue and will be dropped.  A response will be provided to citizen if contact information was provided.

Issue 4076 – Form 1099 Being Sent Too Late – Discussed that there could be two Form 1099s issues.  This is inconvenient to taxpayers.  The statute for getting the forms to taxpayers is February 1.  It was agrees by consensus to drop this issue.  A response will be provided to citizen if contact information was provided.

Issue 4077 – Input Error Correction – This is an issue that TAP can not address.  The issue should be forwarded to TAS.  This issue was elevated by a committee member.  It was agrees by consensus to drop this issue. 

Issue 4078 – Eliminate RALs – Area 5 has addressed this issue and made recommendations.  The National Taxpayer Advocate has also made recommendations on RALs.  It was agrees by consensus to drop this issue. 

Issue 4079 – Change to Flat Tax – This is a legislative issue and will be dropped.

Issue 4080 – Poor Service at TAC Office - This issue will be combined with the other TAC Issues under Issue 3910.

Issue 4081 – Required Minimum Distribution from IRA – Many of the issues of IRAs was proposed by Area 2 however the RMD was not.  Individuals are required to calculate the RMD if there are multiple IRAs.  Pub. 554 is the publication that has the information about the distributions.  Committee wants more information about the distributions of IRA, 401(k) and 403(b).  TAP Program Analyst Sallie Chavez will provide information. 

ACTION ITEM:  TAP Program Analyst Sallie Chavez will find the requirements for the distribution of IRAs, 401(k) and 403(b).

Issue 4082 – IRS Website Improvements – The taxpayer should have received a notice that gives the information.  This information will not be on the website.  It was agrees by consensus to drop this issue. 

Issue 4084 – Long Delay and Poor Service at TAC Office - This issue will be combined with the other TAC Issues under Issue 3910.

OTHER ISSUES

Issue 3604 - Change Correspondence from English to Spanish – This recommendation has been elevated.  Committee has received no response.

Issue 3734 - Downloadable Form 1099MISC – This recommendation has been elevated and approved by the Joint Committee.  It is waiting to be forwarded to the IRS by the TAP staff.

Issue 3921 - Expanding Third Party Authorization Term – The IRS has responded to this recommendation and has rejected it.  The committee does not feel the IRS has addressed the recommended issue.  The subcommittee would like to respond to the rejection.  TAP Program Manager Nancy Ferree and TAP Program Analyst Sallie Chavez will contact Jesse Gonzales and set up a conference call with Subcommittee lead Bill Matheny to discuss this issue in more detail.

SUBCOMMITTEE BREAKOUT

It was decided for the time being to only have two subcommittees.  The subcommittee member met to discuss their issues.

WELCOME/ANNOUNCEMENTS

Committee Chair Hank Mosler asked members to please complete the evaluations and submit them to TAP Program Analyst Sallie Chavez.  He introduced Committee Member Bill Matheny who joined the meeting today.

TAP Director Bernie Coston said he was pleased that the meeting had gone so well.  The committee was able to get on track and bond earlier than most of the committees.

REPORT OF SUBCOMMITTEES

Issue 3671 – Name/SSN Mismatch – Committee Member Patrice Marker reviewed the issue for everyone.  TAP staff will set up a conference call with a SME.  After the conference call they will try and formulate a solution.

Issue 218 – Check-box Authority – Committee Member Dale Cooper reviewed the issue for everyone.  The problem is recognition of the check-box.  There are four (4) ways to address this problem – (1) an area wide email which was sent to all IRS employees, (2) alerts that go out to employees, (3) training for new employees and CPE for current employees and (4) manager group meetings.  They are going to write up a recommendation on this.

Issue 3910 – Delay in TAC Services – Committee Member Dale Cooper reviewed the issue for everyone.  The committee is breaking it down into different categories which include (1) payments, (2) forms and (3) hours and staffing.  The IRS is preparing a Taxpayer Assistance Blue Print which in due out very soon. 

Committee Member Bill Matheny explained this is a joint effort between Area 3 and Areas 2 and 5. 

Committee Member Al Rodriguez suggested that maybe banks could take payments instead of taxpayers waiting at IRS offices.  Committee Member Byron Edwards said with his experiences with banks, they might not want to get involved.

The subcommittee is working to write up recommendations on these concerns.

Issue 3900 – Schedule H – Committee Member Dale Cooper reviewed the issue for everyone.  The subcommittee needs to take a look at the form.  This is a very complex form that needs to be completed by individuals who hire household help.  Many don’t complete the form at all so the IRS should make it as easy to complete as possible.  The committee may partner with Ad Hoc who has the contacts with Forms and Publications.

DISCUSSION OF REJECTED RECOMMENDATION

Committee Member J. T. Wright reported that he discussed the rejection with TAP Director Bernie Coston and it was agreed the staff could contact Jessie Gonzalez.  It was agreed that TAP Program Analyst Sallie Chavez will set up a conference call with Bill Matheny and Jessie Gonzalez before the next committee conference call (March 20).

ACTION ITEM:  TAP Program Analyst Sallie Chavez will set up a conference call with Bill Matheny and Jessie Gonzalez.

CLOSING REMARKS

Committee Chair Hank Mosler reviewed all the Action Items for follow-up.

Committee Chair Hank Mosler went around the room asking for comments about the meeting.  All were good comments.  He asked that evaluations and travel expense reports be provided to TAP Program Manager Nancy Ferree or TAP Program Analyst Sallie Chavez.