Designated Federal Official
Judi Nicholas

Members Present
George Bates
Milissa Bensen, Vice-Chair
Eileen Birge
Marilynn Clapp
Dean Conder
Laura Criel
Steve Maisch
Joe Shields, Chair
Harris Widmer

Members Absent
Neil Mitchell
Ed Uhrig

Staff
Dave Coffman, Program Analyst
Marla Ofilas, TAP Secretary

Opening/Roll Call
Judi opened the meeting and Joe welcomed the members. Marla did roll call and a quorum was met.  There was no citizen input.   

Outreach Review
Milissa explained that outreach efforts from January reached 418 people, 300 of which were from an outreach event that Milissa attended.   

The group observed that outreach numbers are lower compared to a year ago. Joe reminded the members to report all one-on-one outreach efforts.   

Laura asked for clarification on addressing the stimulus payments during outreach events. Judi reminded the members it’s not their role to represent the IRS, but they can provide the toll-free number which has the latest information on the payments.

Taxpayer Burden Subcommittee Report

• Issue #4446 (Collection – Financial Standards)

Marilynn reported that the subcommittee met and compared the process of applying financial standards before the recent change and after the recent change. The subcommittee believes the newer method of calculating allowable expenses is more equitable than the previous method. Most importantly, the subcommittee recognized that the taxpayer can be allowed an amount greater than the standard expense if it is necessary for either the health and/or welfare of the taxpayer’s family or for the production of income. Allowing the greater expense requires proof of payment, but the subcommittee felt that the request is reasonable.  The subcommittee recommends this issue be dropped.
DECISION: Issue #4446 will be placed in a “dropped” status.

• Issue #4376 (Check Box – No Expiration Date)

The subcommittee has decided to pursue this as their next active issue. The third party designation “check box” currently expires one year after the due date of the tax return. Due to the amount of time it takes for the IRS to process, review and, if need be, audit a return, the timeframe is insufficient. The subcommittee will continue to explore this issue during their next teleconference.

Miscellaneous Subcommittee Report

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

Laura reported that the subcommittee researched the issue and found that the IRS has issued several press releases on phishing and e-mail scams. The Public Affairs office has been quite successful in getting the releases picked up by both local and national media. Unfortunately, there is no way to measure how successful the press releases are because not all phishing scams are identified by IRS. Also, IRS used to be able to communicate newsworthy information to the public via direct mailers included with the tax forms and instructions. Since the IRS no longer sends each taxpayer a tax form and instructions, there is no method to directly inform each and every taxpayer about such scams.

The subcommittee felt that IRS is doing what they can to inform the public and recommended that the issue be dropped.
DECISION: Issue #4504 will be placed in a “dropped” status.

IRS Services Subcommittee Report

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

Milissa reported that the subcommittee met and discussed several options for identifying, referring and initiating supervisor call-backs. Dave is summarizing input from the subcommittee’s last brainstorming session, which will be discussed at the next subcommittee meeting.

Joint Committee Meeting
Joe reported that recruitment for TAP will occur from March 17 through April 30. TAP Director Bernie Coston has indicated that he would like to see more diversity in the panel. 

The Communication Committee will be sending out the returning member survey. Joe asked that the members take time to fill it out and return it to Janice Spinks.

Area 3 members participated in the Birmingham, Alabama town hall with Nina Olson.  The next town hall is scheduled for March 13 in North Carolina and May 1 in Springfield, IL.

Face-to-Face Meeting
Marla is working on securing meeting space and lodging for the Area 6 face-to-face meeting. Once a location has been secured, Marla will notify the members and begin travel arrangements.

Closing
Joe thanked the members and Judi closed the meeting.