Issue Committee (W & I EITC) Meeting Minutes

March 17, 2005
Teleconference

Panel Members In Attendance

• Jim Banks, Bozeman, MT
• Elizabeth Brodine Ghoniem, Winchester, MA
• Robert Broniarczyk, Romeoville, IL
• Philip Cimino, Staten Island, NY
• Morgan Edwards, Charolette, NC
• Gwen Handelman, Fort Lauderdale, FL
• Cheyanna Jaffke Placentia, CA
• Leslie Malcolmson, Detroit, MI
• Robert Maziarz, Hainesport, NJ
• Jack Morrell, Mandan, ND
• Joe Reder, Richland, WA
• Al Vivona, Sarasota, FL
• Charles Wendt, Iola, TX
• Nan Wilson, Overland Park, KS
• Beadsie Woo, Durham, NC

Members Absent

• Thomas Karwin, Santa Cruz, CA

Quorum

Quorum met

TAP and IRS Staff In Attendance

• Alisa Blum, Project Manager, EITC Stakeholder Engagement, Washington, DC
• Audrey Y. Jenkins, TAP Program Analyst, Brooklyn, NY
• Hank Kea, Team Leader, Program Evaluation & Support
• Marisa Knispel, Acting DFO/Program Manager, Brooklyn, NY
• Pat Lee, Acting Director, EITC Program Office, Washington, DC
• David Swan, EITC Office Detailee, Atlanta GA

Public Participants

• Veronica Mayhand, General Accounting Office, Atlanta, GA
• Susan Morganstern, Legal Aid Society, Cleveland, OH

Opening of the Meeting
Malcolmson opened the meeting at 2:03 pm EST, welcomed all members, staff and guests.

Approval of Meeting Minutes
January 20, 2005 meeting minutes were approved as amended.

Follow-up on Previous Action Items
Blum

• Provide Committee with responses to the five EITC Committee recommendations referenced in the November 18, 2005 David Williams letter. (Forwarded)
• Send Jenkins EITC marketing materials (Completed)

Jenkins

• Research hotels in Atlanta for May 5th-7th face to face meeting. (Completed)
• Resend the original CP 79 (Completed)
• Resend the Electronic Press Kit that will be used for HUD Kiosks (Forwarded)
• Resend Grassroots Event Schedule (Completed)

Williams

• Provide Committee with a memo on a certification test in rural areas for comment (Forwarded)
• Provide Committee with Pre-Certification Survey (Completed)

EITC Expertise Survey
Malcolmson is still in the process of working with staff to finalize the survey. Hopefully it will be completed and sent out to all members in the next couple of weeks.

Program Owner Presentation
Hank Kea, Team Leader, Program Evaluation & Support went over the EITC Return Preparer Strategy for 2005 and Beyond Power-Point presentation which included the Background and Past Efforts, Lessons Learned from Past Efforts, Due Diligence, Strategy for 2005 and Beyond as well as how TAP can Help. The Return Preparer Program was launched in 1996 led by the Criminal Investigation Division and was mostly compliance oriented. In 1999 the program shifted focus to education and outreach and was led by the Small Business/Self-Employed and the Wage & Investment Divisions. In 2004 the focus balanced between both compliance and outreach. There were due diligence visits which produced a limited analysis of results; these did not target the right preparers. There was limited follow-up to see if education or treatments worked. The Service was unable to determine if efforts produced a change in tax preparer’s behavior and the effectiveness of efforts. The majority of paid preparers are conscientious and comply with the law. Some unscrupulous preparers manipulate taxpayers’ reported income, expenses and qualifying children to inappropriately obtain or inflate EITC. Due diligence is critical to EITC compliance as are tax preparer’s knowledge of and adherence to Due Diligence requirements. To comply, paid preparers must complete Form 8867, the EITC worksheet, know that all of the information used to determine EITC is correct, retain Form 8867 for three years. There is a $100.00 penalty that will be applied to any preparer who do not comply with Due Diligence efforts. For 2005 the EITC Office has developed a balanced, methodical Return Preparer Strategy. It is a multi-year, research driven strategy that is balanced between compliance and outreach, and supports results-based business decision making, prior to expanding scope of strategy. The goals are to identify the best tools to select potentially non-compliant preparers, apply appropriate treatments to non-compliant preparers, and determine the effect treatments have on the behavior of preparers and their clients. In the cases where there is outright abuse, they will be referred to the Criminal Investigation Division. At this point there have been 500 preparers selected for Due Diligence visits.

TAP can assist The EITC Program Office by:

• Providing feedback on the current Form 8867- response requested by the April meeting.
• Providing feedback on the “Targeted Communication” letter to tax preparers–response requested by the May meeting.
• Providing feedback on the “Tips for Choosing a Tax Preparer”–response requested by May meeting.

Pat Lee thanked the Committee for taking the time to review the Form 8867.

Joint Committee Report

• Monthly Meeting Survey--There was discussion whether the Monthly Meeting Survey should continue, be revised, included in the closing comments and who should get it.

Office Report
Jenkins informed the Committee that she has blocked rooms at the Best Western at the Peachtree’s in Atlanta for the May 5th-7th face to face meeting. The hotel will be providing the meeting rooms and everyone should be receiving an email from Meredith Odom-Russell, Management Assistant requesting their travel preferences.

Public Input
Veronica Mayhand, General Accounting Office, Atlanta, GA—thanked the committee for allowing her to listen in it was very informative and would like to join in again in the future.

Closing Assessment
All Members thought it was a very informative meeting and are ready to begin working. And some members wonder what effect the survey has on the Committee and whether it is needed.

Action Items
Blum

• Provide Committee with responses to the 5 EITC Committee recommendations referenced in the November 18, 2004 letter from David Williams

Jenkins

• Resend the EITC wording for the HUD Kiosks.
• Forward previous comments on Form 8867 made by the EITC Committee to the full Committee

Maziarz/Reder

• Consolidate feedback on the EITC Preparer message

Vivona

• Consolidate feedback on the Tips for Choosing a Tax Preparer

Woo

• Consolidate feedback on Form 8867

Next Meeting April 21, 2005 @ 2:00 pm EST