Area 6 Committee Meeting
Teleconference Minutes
September 27, 2007

Designated Federal Official
Chet Blair

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

Absent
Steve Maisch

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

Welcome/Announcements
Chet opened the meeting and welcomed the participants.  Roll call was completed and a quorum was met. There were no members of the public attending the call.

Taxpayer Assistance Blueprint Report (Phase 2)
The full committee had an open discussion of the Taxpayer Assistance Blueprint (TAB) Phase 2 report. Jerry facilitated the discussion and asked members to provide their opinions, thoughts and comments. Maryann and Jerry will take the feedback from the Area 6 members and share it with the Joint Committee at their face-to-face meeting in Chicago.    

Outreach Review
Milissa reviewed the August outreach report, commenting on notable outreach activities.  Eighty-one contacts were made, not including the approximately 5,000 attendees at the 2007 IRS Tax Forum in Las Vegas, Nevada.   

IRS Services Subcommittee Report

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

The subcommittee discovered that the only Internal Revenue Manual (IRM) guidance for IRS employees who receive a request from a taxpayer to speak with a supervisor, is in a situation where the taxpayer feels the employee’s decision is unfair or if an agreement cannot be reached. Members asked Dave to determine if the IRM previously had a “supervisor call –back” policy. If there was such a policy, why was it removed? Also, the members asked Dave to find any local guidance at any other IRS call sites which relate to supervisor call-backs.

At this time, the subcommittee is still working and researching the issue.

Taxpayer Burden Subcommittee Report

• #4201 (E-File – Businesses Changing Names)

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 the IRS e-services. It does not appear that e-services allow the user the ability to make changes to the taxpayer’s entity information. The members asked for additional research.

At this time, the subcommittee is still working and researching the issue.

Miscellaneous Subcommittee Report

• #3541 (Disclosure – IRS Policy Hinders State Administrators’ Duties)

The subcommittee prepared a draft referral to help formulate the issue and frame the possible solution(s).  The proposed solution was to seek a revenue ruling similar to revenue ruling 2004-53, which would specifically find that State Social Security Administrators have a material interest and an investigative purpose in receiving audit results and other compliance-type findings of state and local governments. Another possible solution is to request clarification and reinterpretation of revenue ruling 2004-53 to include State Social Security Administrators within the definition of “material interest” and “investigative purpose.”

Concerns were raised on the potential recommendation to seek a revenue ruling. Such rulings can be costly. The subcommittee thought that the second solution of changing the regulation would be a better avenue to pursue.  Further research on such a solution is needed.  Judi confirmed that a recommendation to change a regulation is within the scope of TAP. 

At this time, the subcommittee is still working and researching the issue.

IRS Responses
The IRS has responded to several issues that were submitted by Area 6 over the last few years. The issues were assigned to the subcommittees to review at their next subcommittee meetings. Members were asked decide their next action to the responses received and prioritize their assigned issues.
ACTION: Each subcommittee will review the IRS responses during their next subcommittee call.  Each subcommittee will recommend a disposition of the issue to the full committee at the next Area 6 meeting. 

Joint Committee Business
Maryann reported that issue #3455 was approved by the Joint Committee. The recommendation will now be elevated to IRS. At this time, there are no other active Area 6 issues for the Joint Committee to review.

Maryann informed the members that the Joint Committee will hold a face-to-face meeting from October 11 to October 13, 2007 in Chicago. Maryann will attend as Chair of Area 6 and Jerry will attend as chair for the TAC Issue Committee. 

Maryann also reminded the members that the TAP Annual meeting will be held in Washington D.C. on December 11 through 14, 2007.

End of the Meeting Assessment
Members felt that the meeting went well. Maryann thanked the members for their participation.

Chet closed the meeting