Joint Committee Minutes

May 3, 2006

Members Present

• Larry Combs, TAP Chair
• Jerald Fireman, Chair, TAC Committee
• Dorothy Havey, Chair, Area 1
• Allena Kaplan, Chair, Area 7
• Sonny Kasturi, Chair, Burden Reduction
• Patrice Marker, Chair, Ad Hoc Committee
• Maryann Motza, Chair, Area 6
• Ferd Schneider, Chair, Area 4
• Lillian (Beadsie) Woo, Chair, EITC
• James J.T.Wright, Chair, Area 3
• Emilio Cecchi, for Area 2

Members Absent

• Paul Brubaker, TAP Vice Chair
• Paul Duquette, Chair, VITA Committee
• Paul McElroy, Chair, Area 2
• Clifford McKenzie, Chair, Area 5
• Robert Meyers, Chair, Communication
• Allen Scioli, Chair, Notices Committee

Staff Present

• Bernie Coston, DFO
• Sandy McQuin, TAP Manager
• Barbara Toy, Program Analyst
• Nancy Ferree, TAP Manager
• Judi Nicholas, TAP Manager
• Sandra Ramirez, TAP Manager
• Susan Gilbert, Senior Program Analyst

Welcome / Announcements / Review Agenda
Larry Combs welcomed all to the call.

Roll Call
Quorum met.

National Office Report
Coston reported that as of midnight April 28, there were 737 applications in final form and 1,081 applications in draft form. This is a major increase over last year and the gain is partly attributable to the article in the Wall Street Journal and the Town Hall Meetings. The Communication and Liaison group also helped immensely. Kudos to Berkey and those who worked with him on the Town Hall meetings. TAP members also helped in getting the word out about recruitment.

The printed annual reports have been received and will be distributed to active members and those members who rotated off the Panel this past year. All former members will receive an email with the press release and a link to the annual report on improveirs.

Report on Meeting with Commissioner Everson
Combs felt that overall the meeting went great. Panel members, Larry Combs, Paul Brubaker, Paul Duquette, Dorothy Havey, Sonny Kasturi, and Beadsie Woo along with Christopher J. Lee, Attorney-Advisor, Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) met with Mark E. Everson, Commissioner, Internal Revenue, Mark Matthews, Deputy Commissioner, Services and Enforcement, Kathy K. Petronchak, Chief of Staff, Commissioner Everson questioned the difference between TAP and TAS. The Commissioner had a copy of the National Taxpayer Advocate Annual Report to Congress and then was handed a copy of the TAP Annual Report. The Commissioner questioned the purpose of the TAP report and how it differed from the NTA report. TAP members explained it contained a list of recommendations TAP has already submitted to the IRS and details of actions take by the IRS in partnership with TAP. It was also explained that TAP operates independently and most of the input is directly from taxpayers.

After the explanation, the Commissioner did want to hear about TAP’s views on the issues brought to him and also requested TAP’s perspective on the following topics:

1. Section 7216 regulations (selling taxpayer information)
   
2. Return preparers regulations (licensing)
   
3. The direction of Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly(TCE) (as Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TACs) decline, what role VITA/TCE will serve)
   
4. Private collection agencies (parceling out of “old” debts to collect on behalf of the IRS)
   
5. The availability of “Free-file” for taxpayers (this year, the ceiling was cut back)

This was a great opportunity to have a one-on-one conversation with the Commissioner and his top executives. Havey said she walked away with deep respect. The Commissioner opened the window for continued communications with TAP. Maryann Motza pointed out that most of these issues are already being addressed or have been addressed by TAP. The consensus reached was to assign the issues to specific committees who have already touched upon them. Except the direction of VITA/TCE since Ferd Schneider said the VITA Committee program owners have given the committee its focus which is on training and not expansion and this issue may not be their highest priority.

DECISION: The Joint Committee decided to assign the issues as follows:

• Issue #1 will be assigned to Areas 2 and 6
• Issue #2 will be assigned to the Ad Hoc Committee
• Issue #3 will be assigned to Area 4
• Issue #4 will be assigned to Area 3
• Issue #5 will be assigned to Area 5

McQuin suggested that input be requested from all of TAP on the issues assigned to your committee. The National Taxpayer Advocate has already testified on some of these issues so it is also important to research her testimony as well as her annual reports to Congress. The position paper should not come from a particular area but should be representative of the whole panel.

ACTION: The chairs of the committee with an assigned issue should bring the assignment to the committee. A report is due within 60 days or July 3, 2006. The maximum time is 90 days (see Closing).

ACTION: Combs will write to the Commissioner and thank him for the meeting and will let him know TAP is working on these issues.

W&I Issue Elevation
Coston met with Sue Sottile, Director, Tax Forms and Publications, and Frank Spiegelberg, Senior Operations Advisor, while he was in Washington, D.C. Spiegelberg was there to keep the Commissioner abreast of Wage and Investment’s (W&I’s) partnering with TAP. One topic of the discussion was issue elevation to ensure recommendations are worked in a timely manner. Sottile agreed that they needed to be worked in a more thorough and fluid manner and pointed out that all recommendations for changes to notices were to go through Ann Gelineau as she is the Point of Contact. Sottile agreed to meet with Coston on a monthly basis to go over issues to see where they are in the process. Coston said TAP needs to do a better job of tracking issues. McQuin reminded everyone that all issues elevated by area committees must go through the Joint Committee. Also, if a response is sent directly to a panel member or a committee, please remember to forward it or a summary of the response to the Joint Committee office to be added to the tracking database.

Beadsie Woo mentioned that there is a timeline for product changes as far as forms and publications. The Ad Hoc Committee has this timeline.

ACTION: Ad Hoc will forward timeline for Notices to Coston. Coston will compare with Sottile to ensure it is correct.

Another point raised by Sottile is that TAP has been sending W&I issues about Refund Anticipation Loans (RAL) and Electronic Tax Administration (ETA) policy. W&I is not responsible for either of these issues. RAL issues should go to Small business/Self-Employed (SB/SE), and ETA issues are touchy since ETA has its own advisory committee, Electronic Tax Advisory Committee (ETAC).

Chair’s Quarterly Report
Combs asked for feedback as to what should be included in the Chair’s quarterly report. Kasturi thought everyone should respond via email. Motza thought the information from the meeting with the Commissioner should be included in this quarter’s report. Coston does a quarterly report for the NTA, so some of that information will be included too.

ACTION: All committee members should send their thoughts on what should be included in the Chair’s quarterly report to Combs.

Area Committee Referrals Timeline
ACTION: All area chairs should email Combs, Toy, and McQuin on how many referrals have already been submitted and estimate how many will be ready by June 1, 2006, so the right amount of time can be allotted during the Joint Committee face-to-face meeting in Denver.

Monthly Committee Report

• Changes in procedures for submitting area referrals
  Now that the Joint Committee has the quality assurance subcommittee, the recommendations should be sent to Barbara Toy as soon as the area committee approves them so they can be sent to the quality assurance committee. This is instead of waiting to submit the recommendation as an attachment to the monthly committee report. The referrals will be on the Joint Committee agenda within 30 days after receipt unless the referral is sent back to the area committee to be reworked. This is still considered an action item for the Joint Committee and should be noted on the monthly committee report.

  Toy would like to see recommendations as soon as they are approved by committees so they can go to the quality review subcommittee for review. The recommendations should be on the Joint Committee agenda within 30 days unless it is sent back to the area committee for revision.

• Are they beneficial?
  Since referrals will be going through the quality review subcommittee, how valuable do the chairs feel the monthly reports are? Ferd Schneider thought the purpose of the report is to familiarize other committees as to what every other committee is doing. It is interesting to see what other committees are working on and he reads the reports to discover other committees’ best practices. MaryAnn Motza said she finds it useful to prepare the report. It’s a good synopsis and helps identify agenda items for the next meeting. The reports are also helpful in preparing the annual report. Allena Kaplan felt it is beneficial to share the report with her committee members and she does review as well for best practices.

  The monthly reports are posted on TAPSpeak each month. They are in the Joint Committee folder. If chairs are having difficulty completing the monthly report, the chair should speak to the committee analyst. They will not prepare the report but can help the chairs.

Closing
Combs said he was hoping to respond to the Commissioner with TAP’s stand on the five issues within 60 day but certainly within 90 days.

Motza noted that the Communication Committee is evaluating TAPSpeak and looking at ways to improve the site.

Havey asked for an update on the Town Hall meetings at the next meeting.

Next Meeting: June 7, 2006.