Designated Federal Official
Teresa Thompson

Members Present
George Bates
Milissa Bensen, Vice-Chair
Marilynn Clapp
Dean Conder
Laura Criel
Joe Shields, Chair
Ed Uhrig
Harris Widmer

Members Absent
Eileen Birge
Steve Maisch
Neil Mitchell

Staff
Judi Nicholas, Program Manager
Dave Coffman, Program Analyst

Opening / Roll Call
Teresa opened the meeting.  Dave did roll call and a quorum was met.  There was no citizen input. 

Outreach Review
Milissa provided the outreach review.  Area 6 outreach efforts reached 93 people in December, 45 of which were from Joe who attended a tax preparer’s training class.  Harris did quite a bit of one-on-one outreach to 16 people.  Joe mentioned an especially effective outreach he had when he sat next to a congressman on a flight from Chicago.  That congressman is now well aware of TAP. 

Taxpayer Burden Subcommittee Report

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

Marilynn reported on the subcommittee’s active issue, #4201.  The issue involves a suggestion allowing business taxpayers to electronically change the name of their business with the IRS.  Currently, businesses must complete a form and submit supporting documentation to the IRS.  After the subcommittee reviewed the current procedure, they determined that the chance of fraudulent activity would probably be greater if business taxpayers were allowed to submit changes online.  The subcommittee agreed that the existing procedure is much safer for changing business names.  The subcommittee asked Area 6 to drop the issue.
DECISION:  Issue #4201 will be placed in a “dropped” status. 

• Issue #4446 (Collection – Financial Standards)

Marilynn said that issue #4446 will be placed in an active status and the committee will begin examining the issue. 

• Issue #4316 (Offer in Compromise – Considering Offer Based on Home Value)

The subcommittee did not get the full scope of the problem when they started looking at this issue.  After initial research, they became acquainted with the method IRS uses to calculate an acceptable offer, based on the value of a home.  The value is based on a net amount (market value minus the remaining mortgage).  Dave contacted the person who submitted the recommendation and discovered that the actual issue involves a resident alien who owns property in another country.  The resident alien was told that he needs to sell the property in the other country as part of the offer.  This issue will remain in the parking lot.      

• Issue #4400 (Penalty Abatements – Based on Preparer’s Advice)

Marilynn asked the committee to consider dropping this issue.  It originally called for abatement of penalties based on erroneous advice from a tax preparer.  After researching the issue, the subcommittee found that the IRS already has a provision for abatement of penalties based on erroneous advice from a preparer.
DECISION:  Issue #4400 will be place in a “dropped” status.

Miscellaneous Subcommittee Report

• Issue #4504 (E-mail Scams – Posing as IRS)

In Neil’s absence, Laura reported on the subcommittee’s recent activity with issue #4504.  She provided examples of warnings issued by IRS, raising awareness among taxpayers on bogus e-mails known as phishing attempts.  These phishing attempts are disguised as IRS correspondence, asking the recipient to provide financial information to sender.  On the surface, it appears the IRS is doing a fairly good job at informing the public of these scams, but the subcommittee wants to delve into this a little deeper.  Dave shared some recent information he received from IRS Media Relations.  This information will be analyzed by the subcommittee at their next meeting.

IRS Services Subcommittee Report

• Response  #607-3455 (Social Security Benefits – IRS Assumptions of Base Amount)

Milissa informed the committee of the issue and the IRS’s response.  While the IRS didn’t accept the committee’s recommendation to clarify the tax instructions, they did agree to revise IRS notice 703.  The revision will clarify the reporting instructions for taxpayers who lived apart from their spouse the entire year and file as married filing separately.
DECISION:  Close response #607-3455 as “Closed – Proposal Partially Accepted”.   

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

Milissa explained how each subcommittee member is going to work on formulating a portion of what will most likely be this issue’s proposal.  Milissa noted there is no consistent guidance to assist employees when they receive a request to speak to a supervisor.  The subcommittee is attempting to determine the appropriate steps employees should follow as well as the documents and/or Internal Revenue Manual (IRM) references which should be written. 

EITC Day
Judi asked the Area 6 members who attended the recent EITC Day to share their experiences with the committee. 

Dean was able to participate in the EITC kick-off with some of the Taxpayer Advocate Service employees.  He found the experience very rewarding. 

If TAP participates in EITC Day next year, TAP will continue to try and pair up members with their local EITC Day activities.

IRS Oversight Board Participation
Judi informed the members that the TAP Chair has received eight or nine discussion items on TAPSpace for his upcoming meeting with the IRS Oversight Board.  TAP’s contributions to the Board will be shared after the TAP Chair meets with the board.    

Joe asked about the status on this year’s problems related to the alternative minimum tax (AMT).  Judi understands the problem to be basically resolved, except for a small number of returns that are require schedules which are not yet available.  More information about the AMT impact can be found on the IRS web site (www.irs.gov).    

Joint Committee Business
Joe provided an overview of the chair training which took place January 10 – 12.  One item of interest was the recruitment of new members.  TAP will attempt to increase the diversity of its membership during this coming recruiting season. 

There are also some town hall meetings that will be held in the near future – none of which will involve Area 6.   

Joe said the committee can expect a much faster response time from IRS on recommendations submitted by TAP.  Most recommendations will receive a response within 30 to 45 days.   

Judi added a few other topics that were raised at the recent training.  One of which is the formation of a small group of TAP members and staff to work on recruiting a more diverse pool of potential TAP members.  Also, a small team will be formed to explore the format and content of this year’s annual meeting.  

Outreach Commitments
Judi asked the members to review the sample outreach commitments included in their reading materials.  Outreach commitments were made last year and, if the committee wishes to, they may formulate commitments for this year. 

The committee decided not to write outreach commitments this year.  The outreach commitments made last year did not have any influence on their outreach efforts.
DECISION:  Area 6 will not formulate outreach commitments for 2008. 

Meeting Assessment
Instead of taking time during the meeting to address what went well and what didn’t go so well, Joe asked the committee to send Judi or him an e-mail on any recommendations or concerns they have with the meeting.  

Recap Action Items
Dave recapped the action items and commitments made during the meeting.

Issue Committee Activity
Joe asked each member to comment on the recent activities of their issue committees. 

Harris commented on the recent activities of the EITC committee, Ed commented on Notices, Laura provided info on VITA, Dean explained the task given to the TAC committee, George noted that his issue committee is now the Forms, Publications/Language Services committee, and Milissa and Joe commented on some projects being worked by the Communication committee.  

Closing
Teresa closed the meeting.