Area 6 Committee Meeting
Teleconference Minutes
August 30, 2007

Designated Federal Official
Chet Blair

Attendance
Milissa Bensen, Vice Chair
Laura Criel
Steve Maisch
Neil Mitchell
Maryann Motza, Chair
Joe Shields
Ed Uhrig
Harris Widmer

Absent
George Bates
Marilynn Clapp
Jerry Fireman
Willy Nordwind

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

Welcome/Announcements
Chet opened the meeting and Maryann welcomed the members. Roll call was taken and a quorum was met.

Taxpayer Burden Subcommittee Report

• 4170 (Offers in Compromise – Income Information)

The subcommittee reviewed page 4 of the offer in compromise packet (Form 656) which states that the IRS may require financial information on non-liable cohabitants for offer verification purposes.  The members discussed this and concluded that the existing procedure is fair.  It would not be fair for the rest of the community if an offer applicant were to claim expenses which are currently being paid by a cohabitant.  Since most expenses are "household" expenses, the income and expenses of the entire household should be examined.  The subcommittee recommends that this issue be dropped.

Maryann noted that Willy has received quite a bit of input on the offer process from the practitioner community.  She recommended that the committee review the issue with Willy prior to dropping it.  
DECISION: The full committee agreed to table the issue until panel member Willy Nordwind (who wasn't present at the meeting) could weigh in on the decision.
ACTION: Dave will contact Willy prior to the September Area 6 meeting and get his input on dropping this issue.

• 4201 (E-file – Businesses Changing Names)

Business taxpayers cannot file electronically if their business changed names during the year. They are forced to file a paper return, even though they are operating under the same Employer Identification Number (EIN).

The subcommittee discussed the problem and asked Dave to research e-services to determine if an online entity name change would be a "good fit" in the program. Dave reviewed the features of e-services and concluded that e-services does not allow the user the ability to make any changes to the taxpayer's entity information (name, address, phone #, etc.).
ACTION: The subcommittee will work on drafting a referral for the next committee meeting. 

Outreach Review
Milissa reviewed the outreach report for the month of July. Outreach efforts resulted in more than 18,000 taxpayers becoming aware of the TAP mission.      

Judi announced that additional funding for outreach efforts is available through the end of September. 
ACTION:  Members interested in conducting outreach requiring reimbursement should contact Judi before incurring any expenses. 

IRS Services Subcommittee Report

• 4175 (Compliance – Using Census Data)

The subcommittee reviewed and discussed the issue. The subcommittee recognizes that there are privacy concerns with the IRS delving into census data to determine filing requirements.  In addition, such acts by the IRS may undermine the mission of the census. Census data does not necessarily reflect individual income or filing status, both of which are used to determine a filing requirement.  The subcommittee feels that this issue is truly beyond the scope of TAP and recommends that it be dropped.
DECISION: The full committee agreed to drop the issue.

• 4227 (Toll-Free Service – Request to Speak with a Supervisor)

The IRS Services Subcommittee decided to work this issue and updated it to an “active” status.  The subcommittee has requested IRS phone site procedures for frontline employees who have a customer on the phone that would like to speak with a supervisor.  Also, the subcommittee wants to know if the Taxpayer Bill of Rights and the Internal Revenue Code address a request to speak to a supervisor.

Miscellaneous Subcommittee Report

• 3541 (Disclosure – IRS Won’t Disclose Names of EIN Applicants)

The subcommittee met and included Mr. Dean Conder, Colorado Deputy State Social Security Administrator, as a subject matter expert.  The subcommittee discussed how the current IRS disclosure policy hinders the ability of State Social Security Administrators to carry out their duties.  While a change to Internal Revenue Code (IRC) 6103 is not within TAP's charter, a change to a related regulation or revenue ruling may be possible.  The issue title, issue statement and brief description of problem were also updated to more accurately reflect the issue.

Committee Referrals in the Joint Committee Discussion Room
The full committee reviewed the new discussion room process and the process of the Joint Committee quality review team.

Area 6 members expressed concerns with the quality review process. Area 6 recently elevated an issue to the Joint Committee which was then returned by the Joint Committee Quality Review Team with extensive changes.  Members felt that the review, completed by the Joint Committee Quality Review Team, changed the content of the referral. Members thought that the team was tasked to look for grammatical and formatting errors.
ACTION: Milissa and Ed will join the next Joint Committee teleconference and express their concerns about the review process.   

Joint Committee Business
Maryann informed the committee that the improved TAPSpace is up and running. Maryann encouraged members to use the site and provide any feedback on the system to Steve Berkey.

Maryann reported that TAP leaders and some members met with Acting Commissioner Brown in Washington, DC. Maryann explained that the meeting was very productive and thanked Dave for his assistance in producing the agenda and meeting materials. The notes from the meeting can be found on TAPSpace.
DECISION: Due to lack of time, the full committee agreed to postpone discussion on “Chair Elections” and “Returned Recommendations to Area 6” .The committee will discuss these topics during their next teleconference.

Las Vegas Tax Forum
Laura and Milissa reported on their experience at the Las Vegas Tax Forum. They stated that the TAP table was in a very busy area, giving them the opportunity to speak to a lot of forum participants.  Laura and Milissa also observed that most of the people they spoke with were not even aware of TAP.  In addition, 19 new issues were raised and several participants expressed interest in becoming TAP members.

End of Meeting Assessment
The members felt this was a productive meeting. Maryann thanked the members and Chet closed the meeting.