Area 7 Committee Meeting
Teleconference Minutes
March 21, 2007

Designated Federal Official
John Tam

Attendance
Gil Yanuck
Wayne Whitehead
Charles Davidson
MJ Lee
Greg Gursey
Wayne Tanna
Tom Karwin
Howard Stahl
Dave Jones
Margaret Ferguson
Doug Wilhelm
Iris Sosa

Absent
Gary Lundberg

Staff
Judi Nicholas, TAP Program Manager
Janice Spinks, Tap Analyst

Welcome/ Opening
John opened the meeting and Wayne welcomed the members. Roll was taken and a quorum was met.

Issue Sub-Committee Report – Dave Jones

• 3633 – TAC Services

Taxpayer was unable to obtain transcripts from her local TAC office and was told they are no longer available.

This issue was addressed during the Issue Sub-committee meeting where the members decided to present the matter to the full committee.

Janice visited the Seattle TAC office and found that transcripts will be provided in situations where the information is needed to file an original/or amended return and in instances where the taxpayer did not get the information as requested from filing the Form 4506T. However, the taxpayer must prove the form was filed. In addition, situations such as INS, mortgage, etc. are not considered an emergency.
Decision: After discussing the issue further, the full committee decided not to pursue the matter and thus agreed to drop the issue.

• 3554 – Power of attorney Problems

Margaret and Gil pursued this matter further and found that the third party “check-a- box” on the return is only for questions that may arise during processing and can only relate to that return.

There is another form that allows un-enrolled agents to appear before the IRS. Only those persons who are authorized under Circular 230 (enrolled agents, CPAs, attorneys, and actuaries) are allowed to represent in collections and appeals.
Others may represent in an examination. 

Based on this information, the sub-committee recommended the issue be dropped.
Decision: After discussing the issue further, the full committee agreed with the recommendation to drop the issue.

Issue Report – Greg Gursey

• Issue #3959 – 1040EZ Filing

Greg reported that the sub-committee is prepared to start working on a draft referral during the Area 7 face-to-face meeting. The sub-committee feels that the IRS can produce automatic 1040EZ’s for taxpayers and hopes that the IRS will follow in the footsteps of the State of California.

February Outreach Statistics
The monthly outreach reporting graph was reviewed.

Gil explained that the Communication Committee is working on creating a chart to calculate the number of people reached during outreach efforts. The committee has recognized that it’s simple to report one-on-one efforts but is trying to simplify reporting outreach when members attend large conventions or provide interviews to the media where the audience is much larger.  

Discussion ensued about the best method for reporting outreach events each month.
Decision: All members agreed to report their outreach as done in the past rather than using a specific reporting document.

Outreach Reporting
Charles expressed the importance of having a discussion during the face-to-face meeting on what outreach really means. He would like to see a brainstorming session to generate ideas which may not have been discussed at the annual meeting.

Wayne W. indicated there is a list of 20 activities posted on TapSpace, which qualify as outreach.  Wayne indicated this would be a great document for new members to gain ideas on where to start.  Charles will include this information during his presentation at the face-to-face meeting.

Gil indicated members have to look for opportunities and suggested that new members contact reporters that are writing tax related articles.  Gil also suggested members pursue speaking engagements with various organizations and community groups.

Charles will compile all of the ideas and discuss them more in depth at the face-to-face meeting.

Joint Committee Report
Wayne explained that Bernie issued the TAP Vision Statement:

• "Citizen Volunteers, valued for improving IRS services"

Wayne provided background on the development of the vision statement and concluded that a vision statement should energize people.

Wayne also reported that TAP will partner with Nina Olsen and have three Town Hall meetings which will be located in New York, Omaha, and Phoenix.

Fact-to-Face Agenda
The members reviewed the agenda for their meeting in San Diego. No changes were made.

Member Comments
No member comments were given.

Closing
Wayne thanked the members and John closed the meeting.

Next Meeting: Face-to-Face April 19-21, 2007 in San Diego, CA