Area 7 Committee Meeting
Teleconference Minutes
October 17, 2007

Designated Federal Official
Judi Nicholas

Attendance
Charles Davidson
Dave Jones
Tom Karwin
MJ Lee
Iris Sosa
Howard Stahl
Wayne Tanna
Wayne Whitehead, Chair
Doug Wilhelm
Gil Yanuck

Absent
Margaret Ferguson
Greg Gursey
John Tam (DFO)

TAP Staff
Janice Spinks, TAP Analyst
Marla Ofilas, TAP Secretary

Opening/Welcome
Wayne opened the meeting. Roll was taken and a quorum was met.  Judi Nicholas served as the DFO in John’s absence.

Annual Meeting Update and Joint Committee Report – Judi Nicholas 
Judi provided a high level description of the Annual Meeting agenda. The dates for the meeting are Monday, December 10, through Friday, December, 14, 2007.  The meeting is being held in Washington, DC at the Fairmont Hotel.  We will use the same outline as last year. New member Orientation will be held Monday, December 10, 2007. The general session will be held Tuesday. Area 6 & 7 will have a combined meeting on Tuesday, Area Committee meetings will be held on Wednesday, Issue Committees will meet Thursday and the Annual Meeting wrap up will be Friday December 14, 2007.
 
Judi asked members to think ahead regarding the combined Area 6 & 7 meeting and individual Area meeting agendas.  She would like to see more member involvement in making presentations and asked members to send her and Wayne an e-mail if interested in presenting as well as any other topics of interest.

Judi indicated there will be four new members joining Area 7, one from Nevada and three from California.

The agendas for 2006 were reviewed and discussion ensued as to whether the layout and topics from last year were suitable for this year.  Some of the comments/feedback provided included the following;

• “There was enough pre-read material and I was comfortable with the agenda”
• There was frustration with the time issues…too much time under utilized
• “There needs to be an extended discussion on the role of a TAP Member and the IRS Staff…as well as how to advocate for the taxpayer”

Next Step
Wayne, Charles, Judi and Janice will meet to discuss the agenda and provide final decisions to the full committee during the November teleconference.

Judi asked the full committee if they would like to continue with their current standing committee meeting schedule, which is the third Wednesday of each month.
DECISION: The full committee agreed to continue with the current schedule. The sub-committees (A & B) will decide on their teleconference schedule once the new members have been assigned to a sub-committee.

Wayne reminded the members to R.S.V.P. regarding dinner reservations during the Annual Meeting, which is scheduled for Tuesday Dec. 11th.
ACTION: Members will email Wayne W. with their R.S.V.P. by C.O.B. October 17.
 
Sub-Committee A Updates – Dave Jones
The sub-committee members received five new issues. Three of the issues were dropped and two require further research.  The remaining issues will be addressed during the annual meeting along with any new issues assigned to the sub-committee.

Sub-Committee B Updates – Howard Stahl
The sub-committee members received five new issues. Two of those issues were dropped and three require further research. The remaining issues will be addressed during the annual meeting along with any new issues assigned to the sub-committee.

September Outreach – Charles Davidson
There were six outreach opportunities reported by Area 7 members. The numbers were up for September, which was due in large part to the Tax Forum held in Anaheim.  Members were encouraged to continue to look for outreach opportunities and ensure the information is reported to Janice upon request.

Member Comments: Nina Olsen’s letter to Area 7 proposals
Members discussed the response by National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA), Nina Olson in relation to issue 05-016 TAS Authority to Release ACS Levies.

Issue Background
In 2005, the members of Area 7 submitted a referral to the Taxpayer Advocate Service stating that IRS does not include computer-generated Automated Collection System (ACS) levies upon wages in the category of systemic or automated levies under Internal Revenue Manual Section (IRM) 13.1.4.2.3.19(1).  Accordingly, this interpretation deprives the Taxpayer Advocate Service of delegated authority to release an ACS levy, and thereby, creates a risk of delay that could cause irreparable harm to a taxpayer in a case where the taxpayer has shown the levy could cause statutory significant hardship.

The Proposed Solution by the committee indicated the IRS should classify ACS automated levies as systemic levies that TAS has delegated authority to directly release, as described in the aforementioned IRM Section.

The Response from the NTA indicated the following:
Presently, TAS employees have the delegated authority to release levies which are systemically generated in certain circumstances under provisions as described in IRM 5.19.9.1.1. This authority can be exercised only if two conditions are met: the levy must be systemically generated as under an automated levy program, and the account must not be open in another function. TAS employees must secure sufficient information to warrant the levy release under IRM guidelines, such as providing the levy is creating a hardship, but they are not overruling a substantive determination by the IRS because the levy was generate by computer.

A wage levy issued by ACS is not a systemically-generated levy, as an IRS employee must take into account substantive issues in the decision-making process. Such issues include analyzing financial information and determining alternative resolutions to collect the delinquent taxes. Thus, if TAS employees were given the authority to release an ACS wage levy, TAS would be overruling a substantive decision made by an IRS Compliance employee. Under the delegation order, the TAS employee would have to operate as an IRS Compliance employee and not as an advocate for the taxpayer. In addition, the taxpayer’s account is open in another function and TAS has not delegated authority to take action on the account.”

The full committee agreed that the NTA is aware of the problem and has recognized it as a “Most Serious Problem” in her 2005 Annual Report to Congress.
DECISION: The full committee agreed to drop the issue.
ACTION: Wayne W. will contact Mary Ann Delzer to inform her of the decision made by Area 7 concerning this issue.

Other Business
Marla indicated travel arrangements for the Annual Meeting should be complete by October 26, 2007.   She will send an e-mail soliciting any travel preferences.

There will be more information forthcoming from Bob Meyers regarding the election process for Chair/Vice Chair.  The elections will be done via e-mail and Steve Berkey will be the point person for tallying the votes.

Closing
Wayne closed the meeting.

Next Meeting Date: November 28, 2007.