Area 5 Committee Meeting Minutes

January 12, 2004

Opening of Meeting
Meeting was opened at 3:07 PM CT.

Present:

• Linda Bader
• Patrick Castleberry
• Laura DeMarais
• John Hollingsworth
• Steven Landauer
• Tom Seuntjens
• Paul Smathers
• Lillian Woo, Chair
• Frank Woods, Jr.
• Dianne Glass, DFO

Absent:

• Lydia Brasch
• Maria Hermann-Pariente
• Nan Wilson

Members of the Public:

• Steve Bankler, CPA Texas
• Ken Eichner

Staff:

• Audrey Y Jenkins, TAP Program Analyst

Welcome/Announcements
Woo welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Approval of Minutes
Tom Seunjens stated that the OIC issue should be activated from the parking lot.  Jenkins was contacted by Hermann-Pariente because she was not present in the December meeting and had to be added to the absent list.  Smathers moved to approve the minutes as corrected.  Castleberry seconded the motion.

December Action Items Update

• Jenkins sent updated roster to the Area 5 members.

• Jenkins is still working on address change procedures for DeMarais.

• Jenkins finalized the arrangements for the February meeting in St. Louis.

• Delzer emailed Bankler the November meeting minutes.

• Landauer, Castleberry, and Wilson will examine the forms testing process. They will report to the full committee in February, after which the committee will decide whether a subcommittee should be formed.

Subcommittee Reports

• E-Filing – Hollingsworth stated that the E-File subcommittee has not met since December.  The individual e-file site is not yet opened on the IRS website. Once it is activated, the subcommittee will meet and look at its design.  Referring to an email that he sent to the committee, Hollingsworth stated that there are now a of total 37 states and the District of Columbia that offer taxpayers filing of both their federal and state returns.

• E-File for VITA/AARP – DeMarais stated she has been looking at the Tax Wise programs and the potential bugs in the programs.  Reports from last filing season indicate that people were experiencing problems with the compatibility of the computer programs.

• Correspondence issue – Woods followed-up the case of Ms. Seward who had a problem with the Memphis IRS office.  Her correspondence was date stamped and returned to her with no explanation. In addition, she made a number of unsuccessful attempts to find out why her letters were being returned.   Finally, an IRS staffer, a Ms. Williams, contacted Ms. Seward but did not give her a reason for the return of her letters. Williams explained that the IRS has guidelines that must be followed. Woods wrote a letter to Ms Williams asking her for an explanation of Ms. Seward's case and for a copy of the written guidelines used to handle correspondence.  To date, there has been no reply. Woods recommended the issue be closed.

• Address change procedures – DeMarais is still waiting for the staff to locate the IRS staffer who is responsible for downloading information from the postal service.
  DeMarais said she would appreciate member input on specific address issues. She already has some on undeliverable refunds.

• ID Theft impact on IRS – Bader stated that 10 million people are affected by identity theft. Glass set up a conference call, and Bader found out that there are now 12 agencies instead of three that are interested in identity theft.  Among the agencies are: Social Security Administration, IRS, Dept of Defense, U S Postal Service, Federal Trade Commission, FBI, Dept of Agriculture, Police departments, student loan agencies, SEC. Citing an example in Indiana to illustrate the growing magnitude of identity theft, Bader indicated that this problem is largely caused by the theft of social security numbers.  One solution is to deactivate social security numbers upon death.  Bader stated that there was a St. Louis hospital employee who was selling deceased persons' social security numbers. Stolen social security numbers are often used to buy generic personal checks through outside advertising in the newspaper rather than through a financial institution, like a bank.  The thieves get identification and present these ordered checks to the bank and retrieve funds from individual accounts.  Bader also stated that Congress passed the Fair and Credit Act of 2003 on 12/4/2003.  Woo asked Bader to focus on the effects of ID theft on IRS and to identify issues that Area 5 can work on.
  Action:   Bader will have handouts on identity theft at the February meeting.

• Audit Methodology - Seuntjens will report at the next meeting.

• Copies of return/transcript - Warren indicated that there has been a change in the service provided by TAS.  A written request is now required for a return/transcript.  Warren also received from Delzer information dated 10/1/03 stating that the IRS no longer offers same day transcripts.  The website indicates that as of 1/1/04 the fee increased to $39.00 for Form 4506P.  Woo suggested that Warren look at  the list of previously elevated issues to ensure that this is not a duplication of effort.
  Action:  Warren to check TAP matrix for possible duplication of return/transcript issue.

• Forms Testing –Landauer and his subcommittee are still waiting for a conference call with IRS specialists in forms testing.
  Action: Jenkins will set up conference call for Landauer, Castleberry, and Wilson with IRS forms testing specialist.

• Personnel Issues – Landauer is waiting to have a conference call with the IRS personnel specialists.
  Action : Jenkins will set up conference call for personnel subcommittee with IRS personnel specialist.

• OIC Item Activated - Landauer suggested the creation of a subcommittee for OIC.  Castleberry stated that CPAs have informed him about problems with pending OIC statutes and levies.  They have been unable to get IRS to lift the levies.  Castleberry recounted the experience of a tax attorney, Ms. Steward, who has had a similar problem.  Ms. Steward made 9 separate calls and spent about $2,500 of her client's money trying to get a wage levy lifted.  She has been constantly referred to different IRS staffers. Castleberry suggested that Area 5 discuss this problem in length at its February meeting.  Seuntjens suggested that Jenkins check to see the OIC issues that other TAP committees are researching so that there won't be a duplication of efforts.  Seuntjens also suggested that Jenkins investigate the 800 number assistance issue to see if any other TAP committee is working on it.   Again, this is to avoid duplicate efforts.
  Action : Jenkins will check TAP issue matrix to determine if other committees are working on OIC.

Outreach Report
Bader attended a meeting of a local small business group as well as a meeting of the LITC in St. Louis.

Castleberry received two calls from a tax attorney who has audit problems.  He concluded that her problems were not systemic, and he suggested dropping this issue.

DeMarais attended a 2-day workshop for E-File training for VITA.

Hollingsworth attended an SRMLC meeting in November and is tentatively scheduled for a stakeholder teleconference in January.

Landauer is scheduled to attend an SRMLC meeting in January, a Rotary Club meeting in March, and an accountants' association meeting in May.
 
Suentjens is scheduled for a teleconference with the stakeholders in January.

Smathers did not do any outreach in December but will attend the next SRMLC meeting in N.D.

Warren received the TAP power-point presentation and is scheduled to make a presentation to TACPA in mid January.

Woods did not do any outreach in December.
 
Woo did not do any outreach in December.  She complimented Seuntjens on his TAP Annual Report and stated that he picked up all the challenges accurately.

OTHER BUSINESS
Seuntjens challenged the committee to increase their outreach efforts.  He asked Glass to request LTAs try to include TAP members when the LTAs are doing outreach.  Glass agreed and added that she would be sending out the 1st Quarterly Report so the committee could look over it.
Action: Glass will communicate with Area-Dallas LTAs about TAP member outreach.

Bader asked about the schedule of the February 6th, and 7th St. Louis meeting.  Woo stated that the meeting on Friday, February 6th will be from 8:30 AM to 5:00 pm, and on Saturday, February 7th the meeting times were 8:30 AM through 12:00 Noon. Jenkins said meeting was announced in the Federal Register for Friday, February 6th 9:00 AM through 5:00 PM and for Saturday, February 7th 9:00 AM through 12:00 Noon.  Jenkins stated the meeting and accommodations will be at the Sheraton Lakeside Chalet.  Jenkins also said that Meredith Odom will contact the members about their flight preferences. Bader stated that the Sheraton Lakeside Chalet Hotel has a free shuttle service that is available every ½ hour, and there is also free parking.  There are at least 18 restaurants in the immediate vicinity.

Woo suggested that Jenkins invite the following people to the meeting: Kris Moore, Media Specialist; Bernie Coston, TAP Director; Bill Sonnack, Local Taxpayer Advocate-Houston; he will make a presentation about  OIC; Olga Rhodes, Area Director. Glass indicated that Melanie Sturgis, Area Analyst will also attend the meeting.  She will assist Jenkins.  Jenkins stated that she would be calling Glass to request help in setting up any additional speakers for the meeting.  Woo stated that we should make sure we had someone from Communications.  Woo asked Jenkins to send everyone a copy of the Communication Strategy that the Joint Committee approved.
Action: Jenkins will extend invitation to people mentioned above to attend meeting in St. Louis
Action: Jenkins will send communication strategy to committee members.

Woo asked for suggested discussion topics for the meeting.  Castleberry suggested OIC.  Seuntjens asked whether Area 5 had discussed OIC in the past.  Castleberry indicated that Area 5 had a briefing from an OIC specialist at its Face-to-face meeting in Kansas City last year.  Woo stated that OIC should be included on our St Louis agenda because it seems to be a growing problem.
Action: Glass will invite Bill Sonnack, Local Taxpayer Advocate in Texas to speak on OIC in St. Louis.

Landauer suggested the inclusion of forms testing on the St. Louis agenda.

Public Input
Ken Eichner stated that there seem to be different standards of fairness at different OIC offices. Charlie Burns is in Houston OIC office at 713-209-4280.  Eichner asked for a clarification of FACA rules in general, FACA definition of subcommittees, and public participation at subcommittee meetings

Steve Bankler asked that meeting handouts be given to members of the public.  Bankler expressed an opinion that preparers of 100 returns or more should be able to receive transcripts over the website.

The meeting adjourned at 5:08 PM ET.

Action Items

• Bader
  Provide Committee with FTC Identity Theft booklet in February.

• Glass
  Request LTAs to reach out to Panel Members for TAP outreach.
  Communicate with Area-Dallas LTAs about TAP member outreach.

• Jenkins
  Locate the responsible individual for downloading the shared information from the postal service.
  Set up conference call for forms testing subcommittee with IRS forms testing specialist.
  Set up conference call for personnel/training subcommittee with IRS personnel specialist.
  Check to see if any other committee is working on OIC issues to ensure we are not duplicating issues.