Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP)
Joint Committee Teleconference Minutes
Wednesday, December 6, 2006 - 1 p.m. ET

Members Present:
Larry Combs, TAP Chair
Paul Duquette, Chair, VITA Committee
Jerald Fireman, Chair, TAC Committee
Tom Karwin, Chair, Area 7
Sonny Kasturi, Chair, Burden Reduction
Patrice Marker, Chair, Ad Hoc Committee
Paul McElroy, Chair, Area 2
Robert Meyers, Chair, Communication
Maryann Motza, Chair, Area 6
Ralph Rivera, Chair, Area 5
Ferd Schneider, Chair, Area 4
J.T. Wright, Chair, Area 3
Lillian (Beadsie) Woo, Chair, EITC

Members Absent:
Paul Brubaker, TAP Vice Chair
Dorothy Havey, Chair, Area 1
Max Scott, Chair, Notices Committee

Staff Present:
Bernie Coston, DFO
Sandy McQuin, TAP Manager
Barbara Toy, Program Analyst
Patti Robb, Note Taker
Nancy Ferree, TAP Manager
Sandra Ramirez, TAP Manager
Steve Berkey, Program Analyst
Inez DeJesus, Program Analyst
Sallie Chavez, Program Analyst

The December Monthly Committee Report is due January 10, 2007, and the self-assessments/annual reports are due 12/31/2007.

Quorum met.

Treasury approved the list of names and all members have been notified.  Some new members have attended area committee meetings. 

Bernie Coston announced that LaVerne Walker is leaving TAP to join another government agency; Patti Robb will be filling in as Coston’s secretary.  Self assessments should be sent to Patti Robb.

Bob Meyers reported that the Communication Committee hoped the TAPSpace work would be completed by the annual meeting but it won’t.  However there will be a demonstration of TAPSpace and some of the new features at the Annual Meeting.  The External Communication Subcommittee completed the Outreach Toolkit which will be available at the Annual Meeting.  The Communication Strategy has been completed and the committee is now looking at the various steps to put the strategy into place.  New Member surveys have been sent out and a copy of the analysis of the results will be attached to the next Monthly Committee Report.

Sonny Kasturi reported that the Burden Reduction Committee finalized and submitted their recommendations on the employer misclassification of employees which were well received by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).  Max Scott received a Founder’s Award for 2006 for his contribution to Health Physics.
ACTION:  Nancy Ferree will send a copy of the award to Joint Committee members and staff.

Area 4 received this grass roots issue from a taxpayer whose mortgage company wanted a copy of his tax return and asked that he sign the Form 4506, Request for Copy of Tax Return.  The person was concerned that the third party could have access to confidential taxpayer information. The form does have a warning that IRS has no control over what the third party does with the information and further warns that the taxpayer should not sign unless the type of tax return and tax periods requested is completed.  However, Area 4 recommends that the warning on the forms be highlighted in some way by using bold font or larger font─something to warn the person.  No objection to taxpayer signing but they should be warned.  Coston added that this is particularly true for applying for a mortgage since there are so many forms to sign that this warning could easily be missed.  Larry Combs asked if there were any objections to elevating the Form 4506 recommendation.  There were none.
DECISION:  The Joint Committee reached consensus on submitting the Area 4 #3998 Form 4506 recommendation to the IRS.

This issue was one of the combined issues reviewed by the Joint Committee in Dallas regarding information returns not being readily available for filing to the IRS.  Area 4 decided to separate this issue and it was passed by the Joint Committee and sent to the IRS on November 21, 2006.  TAP almost got an immediate response; the reply was received November 27th.  Area 4 recommended that since the form can not be downloaded and used for filing, the IRS should make it easy to order the form by providing a link.  IRS was in agreement with the recommendation and accepted it readily

Larry Combs stated that IRS stated in its response that the information is part of the return and Combs questioned how TAP could make that type of error.  Sandy McQuin replied that the information is not on the form itself but in a worksheet that is found in the instruction booklet.  Not all taxpayers have access to the instruction booklet in the following year so do not have the worksheet available when they are preparing or bring the return for preparation.  Area 1 will need to prepare a response back to the IRS that clearly states this and ask the IRS to reconsider the recommendation:  There is plenty of room on the form to include the information.
ACTION:  Sandra Ramirez will ask Area 1 to prepare a response to IRS regarding the Schedule D Line for Carryover and bring the response back to the Joint Committee for approval.

Jerry Fireman asked if all the issues approved by the Joint Committee have been elevated.  The answer is not all have been sent.

Combs stated that the Joint Committee adopted a tracking system in August of 2005 and basically committees are responsible for tracking their own issues after a response is received from the IRS.  This becomes a problem with member turnover since TAP has to recognize that implementation may take three to five years and the members who submitted the recommendation are no longer on the panel.  Each committee needs a way to pass on the issues to the incoming members.  Copies of the recommendations are placed on TASpeak in the TAP Elevated Recommendations folder in the Reading Room. 

Ralph Rivera stated that TAP doesn’t want duplication on issues and recommended that both the list of Tap issues and the recommendations be checked before working on an issue.  MaryAnn Motza pointed out that some issues seem to be similar but aren’t and that staff does a very good job of checking for similar issues.  There is always some chance of error but the current system seems to be working remarkably well.  As chairs we need to educate both returning and new members on where to find the information.  Sandy McQuin stated that this will definitely be added as a topic to the chair training planned for early next year.  Coston added that it is primarily the staff’s responsibility to ensure there is no duplication.  TAP Analysts are having conference calls to discuss the active issues raised and make sure there is no duplication of work.  Rivera added that his area receives great input from staff as whole and was expressing his concern more from the viewpoint of new members.  McQuin reminded everyone that issue committees send their recommendations directly to the IRS so the responses are tracked separately from the area recommendations.  Coston stated that the liaisons from IRS have agreed to match the issues they bring to TAP with their strategic initiatives which should help TAP’s recommendations being implemented. 

Meeting Adjourned

DECISIONS:

• The Joint Committee reached consensus on submitting the Area 4 #3998 Form 4506 recommendation to the IRS.

ACTIONS:

• Sandra Ramirez will ask Area 1 to prepare a response to IRS regarding the Schedule D Line for Carryover and bring the response back to the Joint Committee for approval

• Nancy Ferree will send a copy of the award to Joint Committee members and staff.