Area 7
Teleconference Minutes
July 18, 2007

Designated Federal Official
John Tam, DFO

Attendance
Charles Davidson, Vice Chair
Margaret Ferguson
Greg Gursey
Tom Karwin
Merijane (MJ) Lee
Iris Sosa
Howard Stahl
Wayne Tanna
Wayne Whitehead, Chair
Doug Wilhelm
Gil Yanuck

Absent
Dave Jones
Judi Nicholas, TAP Program Manager
Marla Ofilias, TAP Secretary

Staff
Janice Spinks, Program Analyst

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

Joint Committee Report – Wayne Whitehead
Area 7 has two issues that have been reviewed by the Joint Committee (JC). Both issues have been elevated to the IRS.  The issues are, #3959 (1040 EZ filing by the IRS) and # 4091 (Information about IRS Services).

Wayne indicated the JC had a discussion about developing a matrix for the IRS in terms of reviewing and responding to elevated issues.  He will keep members posted on the outcome.

An inquiry was made as to when the other individuals would be selected for the Commissioner’s meeting.  No decision has been made to date.

Area 7 Report to Joint Committee- Wayne Whitehead
Wayne asked for feedback about the report.  Members had no comments or concerns and felt the report was complete.

Wayne will continue to share the reports with members.

Issue- F.SS-04 – Iris Sosa
Iris reported that she went to the IRS web-site and tested the new form and discovered that most of the problems have been rectified. 
DECISION: No further action is needed on this issue.

June Outreach Statistics – Charles Davidson
According to the monthly outreach chart there were six outreach events for June.  There is a noticeable downward trend.  Members were reminded of their responsibility in conducting and reporting outreach events.

Iris reported that she was in the Anaheim 4th of July Parade, which went well.  She rode in a car which was adorned with TAP information.  There were approximately 2000 people in attendance. She will send pictures of the event.  

Area 7 Issues
Dave reported that he has two issues that he is considering forwarding to Janice for input. One issue deals with the new cash contribution guidelines and the other deals with required minimum distributions for IRA’s.

MJ brought up an issue concerning IRS Notices. Specifically, why notices are printed in dot matrix format.   Howard Stahl, a member of the Notice Issue committee indicated the IRS is working toward moving away from using dot matrix format.  Because this is a huge undertaking, it may take a while to complete the changes.  Howard suggested MJ contact the notice/forms group outlining her concerns.

Other Business
No other business was brought forth.

Closing
John thanked everyone for their attendance. He also thanked those who worked on the two elevated issues for all of their work.

John reminded member to get involved with outreach and to be mindful that it does not have to be anything formal to be considered as an outreach effort.