Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP)
Area 3 Committee
Meeting Minutes

Committee’s Face-to-Face Meeting in DC
Fairmont Hotel-Lindens Conference Room
December 12, 2007, 1:15 pm – 5:00 pm

Designated Federal Official (DFO)
Rose R. Browne, Local Taxpayer Advocate, Atlanta, GA

Members Present
Mary Armstrong
Dale Cooper
Jaspconia Florence
Luis Fuentes
Louis Kapugi
Patrice Marker
Hank Mosler
Mark Paris
Al Rodriguez
Homer Sewell
Max Scott
Tommy Thompson
Chuck Tice

Members Absent
Byron Edwards

Staff Present
Nancy Ferree Tap Program Manager
Sallie Chavez, TAP Analyst
Anita Fields, Tap Manager Assistant

Guest(s) Present
Bill Bly, Wayne, PA

Welcome & Roll Call/Quorum
Hank Mosler welcomed everyone.

Introduction of All Members:
All members went around the table and introduced themselves and stated where they were from.

Elections of Chair and Vice-Chair:
Dale Cooper has been elected as Chair for Area 3 for 2008.  Mark Paris has been elected as Vice-Chair for Area 3 for 2008.

Approve Meeting Minutes of November 20, 2007
Minutes have been approved as written by consensus.

Confirm 2008 Meeting Dates, Times & Location of Face-to-Face Meeting(s)
Quorum is decided as greater than 50% by consensus.  Area 3 monthly tele-conferences have been set as the third Tuesday of every month at 12:30 EST.  The committee has picked Orlando Florida, Pensacola Florida , Little Rock Arkansas, Jackson Mississippi or Baltimore to possibly conduct their annual face to face meeting for 2008.  The dates for the Area 3 Face to Face have been tentatively schedule for February 28 through March 1, 2008.

Discuss concepts of teamwork and agreement by consensus
Consensus has been discussed and everyone understands the concept.

Review  Active, New and  Parking Lot Issues
Issue 4297(IRS Loses information Sent) is active and will be assigned to a subcommittee.

Issue 4404 (Hurricane Disaster or Similar Disaster) is made active and will have a subcommittee assigned.

Issue 4059 (Lack of Communication in the IRS) The committee decided to drop issue by consensus.

Issue 4081 (Required Minimum Distribution from IRA) The committee decided to drop issue by consensus.

Issue 4300 (Practitioners Need Special Number for Collection) The committee decided to drop issue by consensus.

Issue 4301 (Problem with Fax Machines) The committee decided to drop issue by consensus.

Issue 4403 (Standard Deduction vs Itemize) The committee decided to drop issue by consensus

Issue 4405 (POA Processing) The committee decided to drop issue by consensus.

Issue 4408 (Correspondence/Notice Process) The committee decided to drop issue by consensus.

Issue 4482(With-holding for Non-Citizens) The committee decided to drop issue by consensus.

Sallie Chavez informed the committee that any issue that is related to Tax forms and Pubs will be transferred to the Tax Forms and Pubs/Language Services Issue Committee.

Sallie also stated that she is going to post the List of TAP Issues on TAP Space monthly for all members to review.

Discuss Issue 3910 (TAC Recommendation)
The committee has decided to elevate Issue 3910 to Joint Committee by consensus.  Sallie made note that we have to get consensus from the other area involved.

Elevated Issue Response
TAP Issue 306-016- The committee has decided to close proposal rejected by consensus.

TAP Issue 04-021B- The committee has decided to close proposal implemented by consensus.

TAP Issue 05-028-The committee has decided to close proposal implemented by consensus.

TAP Issue 04-053- The committee has decided to close proposal accepted by consensus.

TAP Issue 05-053- The committee has decided to close proposal implemented by consensus.

Set-up new Subcommittees
Patrice Marker, Louis Kapugi, Dale Cooper, Homer Sewell and Mark Paris volunteered to be on the area 3 screening subcommittee.  Mark Paris is the lead.

Max Scott, Tommy Thompson, Chuck Tice and Luis Fuentes volunteered to be on the subcommittee to review Issue 4404 (Hurricane Disaster or Similar Disaster).  Max Scott is the lead.

Byron Edwards, Mary Armstrong, Jaspconia Florence and Alberto Rodriguez volunteered to be on the subcommittee to review Issue 4297 ( IRS Loses Information Sent). Byron Edwards is the lead.

Hank Mosler suggested that all new members come to the committee meeting next month with a new issue to give them some experience of writing up issues.

Al Rodriguez, Louis Kapugi, Hank Mosler, Nancy Ferree and Rose Browne  volunteered to be on the Quality Review subcommittee.  Al Rodriguez is the lead.

Outreach
Rose Browne shared the type of outreach that the Local Taxpayer Advocates (LTA) conduct throughout the year.  She also stated that she would love to partner with TAP to do outreach.

Dale Cooper stated how important reporting outreach is to the committee.

Closing Comments
Dale Cooper just thanked everyone for being here and stated that he will do his best as TAP Chair this year.

Confirm First Teleconference - 2008
Next meeting is a teleconference on January 15, 2008 at 12:30pm EST.

Certification:  These minutes were approved by the TAP Area 3 committee by consensus on 2/19/2008.