Designated Federal Official
Linda Martinez

Attendance
George Bates
Milissa Bensen
Marilynn Clapp
Laura Criel
Jerry Fireman
Steve Maisch
Neil Mitchell
Maryann Motza, Chair
Joe Shields, Vice Chair
Ed Uhrig
Harris Widmer

Absent
Willy Nordwind

Staff
Judi Nicholas, TAP Program Manager
Dave Coffman, TAP Analyst
Marla Ofilas, Note Taker

Welcome/Announcements
Linda opened the meeting. Maryann welcomed the members and took time to thank everyone for their hard work this past year.

Teambuilding Exercise
The members participated in a teambuilding exercise in which they introduced one another to the full committee.

Area 6 Ground Rules
The committee reviewed the ground rules that each member should follow when participating in teleconferences and face-to-face meetings.

Decision: The full committee agreed to adopt the ground rules from last year’s committee. 

Establish Meeting Quorum
The full committee decided on a meeting quorum. 

Decision: Meeting quorum will be 51% of the active membership plus one.

Issue Process Review
Maryann reviewed completed issue #1182 and explained how an issue is worked by an area committee.

Maryann suggested that a quality review process be created to ensure the issue recommendation is articulate and persuasive. Maryann encouraged use of the Joint Committee referral check list to ensure a complete and persuasive response is submitted to the Joint Committee. 

Taxpayer Burden Subcommittee Report
Marilynn informed the full committee on the progress of issue #3233 (Estimated Tax Payment Rules for Self-Employed Taxpayers). The subcommittee worked together and prepared a recommendation that was recently elevated to the Joint Committee.

The subcommittee has decided to start working on issue #3400 which involves the early withdrawal penalty.  At the November 1 subcommittee meeting, Dave provided his research.  Members found that the instructions were inadequate.  The instructions need to properly inform taxpayers of the early withdrawal penalty.

Marilynn concluded that the subcommittee members intend to continue working on this issue during the subcommittee break out session.

Miscellaneous Subcommittee Report
Neil stated that the subcommittee is working on issue #3942 (E-Services – Requirement to provided AGI to register). The issue was submitted by a CPA who is also an authorized IRS e-file provider.  The CPA expressed concern about providing her personal adjusted gross income (AGI) from the previous tax year as a requirement to register for IRS e-services.

Neil concluded that research on this issue was completed and the AGI was chosen by the IRS because it is a shared secret that can be easily retrieved by both the applicant and the IRS. The subcommittee decided that they should move forward on the recommendation to educate the user on the need to verify the identity of the applicant.

IRS Services Subcommittee Report
Steve shared that issue #3249 has been elevated to the Joint Committee. The Joint Committee approved the recommendation and issue #3249 will be elevated to the IRS as a recommendation.   

The subcommittee has also reviewed issue #3744 (Limited English Proficient Taxpayers – Virtual LITC). Dave arranged a meeting with the Director of the Low Income Tax Clinics (LITC), on November 17. The subcommittee was hoping to gather some ideas for recommendation; however, after meeting with the director, the subcommittee decided to drop the issue. The director was not prepared to fund or maintain the accuracy level needed on a public LITC web site.

Steve concluded that the subcommittee plans to select a new issue to work on during the break out session.

Area 6 Issues Review
The full committee briefly reviewed the list of issues and the contact history report. 

Currently the list of issues is broken down into 5 categories:  E-Filing and Telefiling, Accessing & Accuracy of IRS Services, Compliance/Collection, Taxpayer Burden, and Miscellaneous. Judi suggested that the list be consolidated and felt there was no reason that it couldn’t be consolidated. The full committee agreed.

Decision: The full committee agreed to continue with 3 sub committees. E-Filing/Telefiling will be combined with Accessing and Accuracy of IRS Services. In addition, the committee agreed to combine Compliance/Collection with Taxpayer Burden.

Maryann reviewed the subcommittee agendas and reminded the members that a lead and back up lead will need to be selected during their break out sessions.

Subcommittee Break Out
The members took time to meet in their assigned subcommittees to review issues.

Subcommittee Reports

• Taxpayer Burden Report 

Marilynn reported that the subcommittee focus involves the lack of information on mandatory IRA distributions when the taxpayer reaches 70 ½ years of age. The subcommittee also felt that the current title and issue statement does not truly reflect the path that the subcommittee is taking to resolve the issue. Harris has agreed to compose a paragraph to reflect this.

The subcommittee re-elected Marilynn as the subcommittee lead and George as the back-up lead.

• IRS Services Subcommittee Report

Milissa reported that she was selected as the subcommittee lead. Steve has agreed to serve as back-up lead.

The subcommittee reviewed the list of issues and felt that some issues could be combined.   The subcommittee will work issue # 3695 (Telephones – Unable to Reach Actual Person).  The similar issues involving telephone customer service will be combined with # 3695. 

• Miscellaneous Subcommittee Report

Neil reported that he will serve as back-up lead and Willy will remain the subcommittee lead.   

The subcommittee continued work on their current issue, # 3942. The subcommittee formulated several options for alerting the applicant that AGI needs to remain a requirement of the registration process.  It is information known only to, and easily retrieved by, the applicant and IRS.

The subcommittee recommends:  

• Adding a frequently asked question button (FAQ) along the top of the registration page
• On the FAQ page, add a bullet that answers “Why is AGI required?”
• On the registration page, add the following language to the paragraph on AGI:  "Because you are registered as an individual, not a business, please provide your Adjusted Gross Income* (AGI).   * AGI was selected because it is information known only to, and easily retrieved by, the applicant and the IRS.

Chair and Vice-Chair
Members nominated Maryann to continue as Chair of Area 6. No other members volunteered and Maryann accepted the position of Area 6 Chair.

Members nominated Milissa as Vice Chair. No other members volunteered and Milissa accepted the Vice Chair position.

Outreach Overview
Joe reviewed the outreach report. Joe observed that there was a lot of action and outreach activity for November, but no issues were collected.

Face to Face Details
The face-to-face meeting for Area 6 has been scheduled for March 29, 30, and 31 in Mesa, Arizona. The meeting and lodging has been secured at the Mesa Marriott. Marla will contact all members to coordinate flights, at the beginning of February.

The meeting format will reflect the format used at the Albuquerque face-to-face meeting.

End of Meeting
Member comments were provided. Many members were happy to see that they were given a chance to work TAP issues instead of reviewing administrative topics. Members agreed with the format of the meeting.

Maryann thanked everyone for their efforts and also thanked Linda Martinez for being an active and helpful Designated Federal Official.

Closing
Linda thanked everyone for the wonderful experience and closed the Area 6 meeting.