• Martin, Betty - Nashville, TN - LTA

Committee Members Present

• Behnkendorf, Larry - Waterford, MI - Member
• Bryant, Patricia - Millington, TN - Vice Chair
• Duquette, Paul - Amherst, WI - Member
• Hurr, Joe - Dayton, OH - Member
• Kennedy, Jeff - Louisville, KY - Member
• Khan, Anne - Chicago, IL - Member
• Lawler, Mary Ann - Dearborn, MI - Member
• Meister, David - Franklin, WI - Member
• Melchior, Jerome - Vincennes, IN - Member
• Richardson, Lovella - Knoxville, TN - Member
• Schneider, Ferd - Cincinnati, OH - Chair
• Wernz, Stanley - Cincinnati, OH - Member

Committee Members Absent

• Amos, Maureen - Chicago, IL - Member
• Broniarczyk, Robert - Romeoville, IL - Member

TAP Staff

• Coston, Bernie - Atlanta, GA - Director
• Delzer, Mary Ann - Milwaukee, WI - Analyst
• McQuin, Sandy - Milwaukee, WI - Manager
• Odom, Meredith - Brooklyn, NY - Note taker

Other Attendees

• Ray Buschmann
• Ann Spiotto
• Regina White
• Dave Monnier
• Kelly Wingard
• Lev Martyniuk
• John Verwiel
• Greg Blanchard
• Robert Mull

Welcome
Bryant welcomed all members, staff and visitors.

Coston thank all members for a very successful TAP year and he thanked the retiring members for all of their hard work and commitment to TAP. Coston will meet with the issue committee program owners to give them an orientation as to expectations, as well as what the members are looking to get out of the program for the upcoming year. Coston sent out an email to the members to pick an issue committee they would like to work on.

Roll Call
Quorum met

Introduction of New Members
Delzer introduced the potential new members.

Area 4 Chair Report
Joint Committee Report
Schneider explained to the new members what the Joint Committee (JC) does. At the last JC meeting, the committee worked on preparations for the Annual Meeting and worked on the Annual Report.  The Monthly report for November and December has been eliminated so that the outgoing chairs can concentrate on gathering data for the Annual Report. 

Coston informed members that the election results for TAP Chair/Vice Chair will come out by the end of the week.  The JC elections were held prior to the Annual Meeting.  This will assist all members in their meetings to elect their Chair/Vice Chair of the Area or Issue Committees.

Area 4 Annual Self-assessment
All members are asked to complete the self assessment.  This report was sent out to the members from Delzer and the members are encouraged to fill it out and return it back to Delzer by November 30, 2007. This information will assist Schneider in writing the Area 4 annual report.  This is also important information the staff and leadership need to improve the internal operations of Area 4.

Public Input
None

Issue Discussion
Notices of Deficiency
This referral will go on the February JC agenda.

Direct Deposit Refund and IRA Contribution
Wernz sent out the report by email to the committee. The committee did research and found that the expectation is that the taxpayer knows whether or not the deposit is timely made to the institution by the IRS. The IRS doesn’t provide the notification to make sure that IRA contributions are in their accounts by the deadline. When they choose to use refunds to make those deposits, the refund can be held up and the deposit will not get there in a timely fashion requiring an amended return and they will not have the contribution made by the refund date. Taxpayers should note their obligations as found in the instructions to assure timely deposits of IRA contributions. The committee recommends that this issue be dropped. Issue Closed.

Allow suspension of return processing
Delzer spoke with the Systemic Advocacy Analyst and she wanted to make sure her Director was clear with Coston on discussing this. This issue will be tabled until the beginning of the year.

Failure of Audit Reconsideration Processing
None

Recognition of Private Letter Rulings
None

New Issues
Kennedy met with Wernz and Khan and discussed the issues that came from the Chicago Tax Forum and all the issues in the parking lot. A subcommittee report went out to all members to review.  The issue 4344 using e-services has been resolved and it will be removed. All items that were tagged for removal will be removed.
Schedule C EZ pt.3 – The new issue committee dealing with Burden Reduction is working this issue. This item will be placed in the parking lot.

Action Item Review
Delzer is collecting all responses from all Areas to see what the discussion with the program owners will be. McQuin informed everyone of the new liaison from W&I, Patti Wagner.

Outreach
Schneider attended a TCE training meeting and discussed TAP.

Wernz attended an e-file seminar and had the opportunity to do a 15 minute presentation on TAP.

Bryant went to an e-file seminar in Memphis and was also able to discuss TAP.

Duquette attended a meeting consisting of County Supervisors and County Department chairs and shared information about TAP. While there he asked for a space in the County quarterly newsletter telling about TCE and VITA sites.

Verwiel was at a pregnancy shelter for single mothers and they are confused about is the EITC issue.  The EITC committee is working on having people participate in filing for EITC.

Issue Committee Highlights
EITC – the committee just completed focus groups in various cities

VITA – they just had their final meeting for the year. A member was invited to participate in testing the TaxWise software for the 2007 filing season.

Notices – the committee worked on the Stuffer Project and is ready to meet with the Subject Mater Expert but they are having trouble finding the correct person to talk to them.

Office Report
McQuin told members that results for TAP Chair/Vice Chair will be coming out this week. Members are reminded to make their Issue Committee Selections.  Delzer sent out all pre-read material to returning members for the Annual Meeting.

Members have come up with a few Restaurants for the Area meeting. McQuin suggest members get together to decide on a restaurant and how the members will get there, via bus or shared taxis. Old Glory Barbeque is the selected restaurant for the dinner.

McQuin reminded everyone that all the successes of all of the committees are individual successes as well, because this is one panel. The Milwaukee Office has enjoyed working with everyone. Retiring members are encouraged to check the website once in a while and join in on a conference call sometimes. McQuin thanked all members for their support.

Closing/Assessment