DFO:
Marian Adams, Local Taxpayer

MEMBERS ABSENT:
Sandra Bland, Bemidji, MN - Advocate
Chris Freeman, Pleasant Hill, IA
Howard Guthmann, St. Paul, MN
Bob Meyers, Omaha, NE
Mary Suther, Dallas, TX
                                                                       
MEMBERS:
Kay Bell, Austin, TX

STAFF:
A. Elizabeth Colvin, Austin, TX
Mary Ann Delzer, Program Analyst
Rajiv Shah, Columbia, MO
Sandy McQuin, Program Manager
Lee Stieger, Leavenworth, KS
Anita Fields, Program Secretary
Rick Rousseau, Harker Heights, TX
Warren Wong, Rochester, MN
Kenneth Wright, Chesterfield, MO

Welcome/Roll Call/Review Agenda
Kenneth Wright welcomed everyone to the meeting. Quorum was met.

Area 5 Chair Report--Wright
• Joint Committee (JC) Report-Wright
Ken Wright mentioned to the committee that there will be a self nomination process for TAP Chair and Vice Chair.  If you are interested please send an email to TAP Vice Chair Bob Meyers and also copy your Area Chair with a little background information.  Anyone who decides they would like to run will be on the ballot. There will also be a nominating committee for the first time in TAP history.  The committee will be composed of the TAP Vice Chair and one 3rd year member from each of the seven areas.  The vote will be done by email before the annual business meeting.

• IRS Responses
05-013 AMT Education
Warren Wong was concerned about what happens after issues are sent to Joint Committee.  What are the procedures for following up on issues?  If the committee is not happy with responses from the IRS what do we do about it?

Mary Ann Delzer informed him that at the bottom of each response there was a list of options that the committee should use.  Wong questioned who is responsible, Joint Committee or Area Committee?  The rebuttal is the responsibility of the Area Committee.

Wong stated that in the TAP Mission Statement he didn’t see anything anywhere that says that TAP has responsibility for education.  Everything that we are talking about has to do with education. 

Wright stated that the committee is an advocate for taxpayers and therefore the committee can discuss it.  
Closed, Proposal Partially Accepted

Issue 05-022 IRS Partnering
This is the issue that was precipitated by the threatened closings of the TACs.  IRS wanted to move to virtual TACs.  Delzer reminded the committee the issue suggested the idea of sharing space with other agencies.  Elizabeth Colvin stated that it would be great if the TAC offices would let VITA work out of their offices in regards to partnering.  Sandy McQuinn stated that the committee should wait until the next TAB report and save that as a new recommendation.  Wong asked for clarification on partnering.  McQuin stated that what they suggested in the recommendation was the idea of partnering with other governmental service agencies.
Closed, Proposal Accepted

Issue 05-037 Availability of Reward, Form 211
This issue is concerning getting more information to people about rewards for reporting tax fraud. 
Closed, Proposal Partially Accepted

Issue Discussion
Taxpayer Assistance Center (TAC) – Wong / Freeman
Wong stated that Area 3 is supposed to take the lead on TAC.  Wright wanted to know if we should keep this as an issue.  Wright stated that the only unanswered question is Chris Freeman’s strong desire to address accessibility issues in TACs. He proposed that they drop TAC from the issue discussion unless Freeman wants to address this at a later date as a separate issue.  McQuin wanted to know if the committee wanted her to pursue getting information back from Estelle Tunley on the issues that had already been forwarded.  McQuin will speak to Bernie Coston to work at getting some type of report.

Wong asked if it would be a good idea to have the TAC Issue Committee re-constituted for next year.  McQuin stated that it is really up to the IRS in terms of what resources they would put toward the issue committees.  As of right now we are still waiting to see what issue committee we will have next year.  McQuin will pass on to Coston the idea of reconstituting the TAC Issue Committee.

Address for Payment—Stieger
There was a draft recommendation that went out to everyone for review.
(See below)  Consensus to elevate as written. 

POA, Check Box Authority – Guthmann
Delzer informed the committee on Guthmann’s behalf that Nancy Ferree is still trying to get Jesse Gonzales to convince IRS counsel that this might be a good idea.  The National Association of Enrolled Agents issued a release stating they did not agree to the extension of the Check Box Authority. 

Direct Deposit Incorrect Account – Bland
Bland was not on the call. Delzer informed the committee that this issue is about refunds being deposited into the wrong bank account because the taxpayer provides IRS with the incorrect account number.  A legislative change is needed to treat electronic payments the same way they treat checks that are mailed to the wrong person.  Delzer is still trying to get someone from IRS to tell her the history as to why IRS no longer requires the banks to match account numbers and names.  One solution is to write a letter to Nina Olson stating that this is a continuing problem because more people are e-filing and there are a lot of complaints regarding refunds going to the wrong account.  Nina may want to include the issue in her annual report as a proposed legislative change.

New Issues
There are twelve new issues in the Contact History Report.  A suggestion was made to table them and place them on the Area 5 agenda for the Annual Meeting.  That was agreed upon by the committee.

Outreach
No outreach was reported.

Action Items
All action items were completed.

Office Report-McQuin
Sandy McQuin wants to thank Anita Fields, the TAP secretary in Florida, for taking minutes today.  Barbara Foley is also on a detail so the office is really short handed, but we are doing our best and staying above water.  Delzer stated that she sent an email reminder about getting the outreach reports in to her.  It is very important especially if you want your reports included in the 2007 TAP Annual Report.  All the report needs to contain is “who, what, when, where, and how many.”   The form is located on TAPSpace for those who need it.

Public Comment
No one from the public was on the call.

Closing/Assessment—Stieger
Lee Stieger stated that the committee had a pretty lively discussion and settled several issues.  It seems that we are starting to plan for next year.  The attendance was a little low again and we need to do more/report Outreach.

Meeting adjourned
Next meeting November 9, 2007, 9:30 a.m. CT

Members of Subcommittee/Author(s):  Lee Stieger, Christopher Freeman, Kay Bell

Issue Statement: Internal Revenue Service (IRS) payments and forms submitted by mail now go to multiple addresses. Due to the continuing IRS reorganization, in many instances these addresses are confusing and counterintuitive to taxpayers.

Goal Statement:  Provide individual taxpayers who file and who make tax payments by mail with one resource listing the appropriate addresses for submitting those payments and associated tax forms.

Proposed Solution: 

1. Improve IRS website search capability so that keyword search for "payment" provides taxpayers with direct link to payment addresses.  
   
2. Provide on the IRS Web page access to payment information via a featured navigation box.  
   
3. Make an IRS publication (similar to Pub. 3891) with a unified list of all possible mailing addresses for individual returns and payments.

Background, Research, and Analysis:  The IRS's primary job is to collect tax money. To that end, the IRS should help ensure that willing taxpayers wanting to file paper returns and to make payments should be able to do so as easily as possible.

Currently the IRS, via its website, thoroughly addresses nonpayment issues, but not payment inquiries. Online searches using the keyword "payment" now link to "nonpayment" solutions. Taxpayers looking simply for a mailing address are forced to do additional online searches to find information that answers their actual payment question.

Access to such information is critical in light of IRS continuing reorganization. As exhibited in IRS Publication 4038 (2008 return processing migration; individual returns on page 2), the IRS has been consolidating the processing of business and individual tax returns in its existing campuses. These continuing changes have resulted in taxpayer confusion for some taxpayers who file by mail.

Simultaneously, the IRS has been encouraging taxpayers to file and pay their taxes electronically. Despite this effort, a large percentage of taxpayers still submit their returns on paper and pay by checks sent via mail. According to IR-2007-100, issued May 15, 2007, the agency expects about 58 percent of all 2007 returns to be e-filed. That leaves 42 percent filed by mail.

Ideally, taxpayers who choose to file returns by mail would use the appropriate envelope (either for a 1040 with a payment or a 1040 without a payment) provided in the 1040 paper filing packet. However, from the time taxpayers receive this material in January until they file their returns, possibly as late as October, they often misplace the pre-printed envelopes and/or labels. Although taxpayers, who lose the envelope, can find address information in the 1040, 1040A and 1040EZ instruction booklets, not all taxpayers retain these documents.

Even taxpayers who prepare their returns electronically using tax preparation software often choose to print out and mail their returns and payments. These taxpayers do not have easy access to the appropriate address to which to send their material.

In addition, different filings require taxpayers to use different mailing addresses. This is the case for individuals who file both 1040 and 1040-ES forms at the April deadline. It is not uncommon for such filers to send both to the same address if they do not have access to the correct mailing addresses for each.

Payment information also is needed by taxpayers year round, not just in the usual January-to-April filing season. Millions of filers annually seek filing extensions; millions more pay estimated taxes throughout the year. The mailing addresses for such filings and payments should be easily accessible on the IRS website.

Since the IRS has this mailing information, we recommend that the agency compile it in a single document, available online as well in print form, if requested, for individual taxpayers.

The IRS already has produced such a document for tax practitioners (IRS Publication 3891, Lockbox Address Directory, http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p3891.pdf ). This 24-page publication details for professionals where to mail their clients' individual 1040, 1040A, 1040-EZ, 1040-ES, 4868 forms, as well as several business returns (Forms 940, 940PR, 941, 941PR, 941SS, 943, 943PR, 944, 944PR, 944SS, 945). Mailing information for estates and trusts filings (Form 1041-ES) and heavy vehicle use taxes (Form 2290) also is included in IRS Publication 3891.

A similar document for individual taxpayers would reduce taxpayer confusion. It also should reduce the number of telephone calls and in-person assistance visits regarding this matter.

Like Pub. 3891, the proposed new individual mailing address publication would be accessible as a PDF document at www.irs.gov. We recommend that it also be linked from the IRS home page.

Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TAC) staff should be made aware of this document and make it available to taxpayers.

Benefits and Barriers, Including Impacts of the Proposed Change:  There are several benefits to the IRS providing a consolidated list of mailing addresses for individual tax filings and payments.

Judging from 2007 IRS filing estimates (IR-2007-100, cited previously), more than 50 million taxpayers potentially could have questions about where to mail their returns. While the IRS intends to continue and expand its electronic filing services, the agency's acknowledges that a large number of taxpayers are not able or willing to utilize online services at this time or in the near future. The IRS, therefore, must maintain its commitment to providing services to all taxpayers, including those who use more traditional filing methods, in order to reduce taxpayer burden and enhance voluntary compliance.

By having taxpayer mailing address information readily accessible online, by phone or at TACs, the IRS would better meet the needs of those filers.

The agency also could see an added benefit with regard to its customer service. The issue of what address to mail a return and/or payment is viewed by most taxpayers as a basic, simple request. By readily providing the requested information, IRS representatives would indeed show that the agency is able to quickly answer such simple queries.

Giving taxpayers better access to address information also would allow the agency to do what it is designed to do: collect payments and filing data from compliant taxpayers. Any steps the IRS can take to facilitate this benefits not only the agency, but the taxpaying public.

Further, by helping taxpayers submit their forms and payments to the correct campus, the IRS would be relieved of forwarding misdirected filings and payments.

The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel also recognizes there are some barriers to the proposed new document, most notably the cost to print the publication. However, we believe that printing requirements would be minimal. In most cases, taxpayers, even those who file by paper, are accustomed to getting informational material online.

With regard to the IRS website, we realize that space on the home page is at a premium. However, all that is required is one text link. The IRS currently maintains year-round a forms and publications section in the upper left corner of its website home page. We believe it would be worthwhile to replace one form link with a permanent link to payment information.

Also, a keyword search of "payment'' should include reference to where payments should be made. Now when a taxpayer conducts an online search for "payment" information, the taxpayer is directed to links that discuss "nonpayment" solutions. For example, a search for "payment" takes the taxpayer to extended-pay options, such as the installment payments. While this information is important, it doesn't address the needs of taxpayers who simply want to pay their tax bills today.

A nominal barrier is acquainting IRS phone representatives and TAC personnel of the new document's existence. This should take minimal training, so there should be negligible costs in this area.

Overall, the costs to the IRS should be minimal, and would be greatly offset by the service to taxpayers and the more expeditiously collected filings and payments from those individuals.