Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP)
Joint Committee Teleconference Minutes
Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Designated Federal Official
Bernie Coston, TAP Director

Members Present
J. T. Wright, TAP Chair
Bill Bly, Chair, Burden Reduction
Paul Duquette, Chair, VITA
Harvey Epstein, for Area 1
Jerald Fireman, Chair, TAC Committee
Tom Karwin, Chair, Communication
Merijane (M J) Lee, Chair, AdHoc
Robert Meyers, TAP Vice-chair
Hank Mosler, Chair, Area 3
Maryann Motza, Chair, Area 6
Ferd Schneider, Chair, Area 4
Lynwood Sinnamon, Chair, Area 2
Max Scott, Chair, Notices Committee
Stanley Wernz, Chair, EITC
Wayne Whitehead, Chair, Area 7
Ken Wright, Chair, Area 5

Members Absent
Dorothy Havey, Chair, Area 1

Staff Present
Barbara Foley, Program Analyst
Sandy McQuin, TAP Manager
Steve Berkey, National Office Program Analyst
Sallie Chavez, Program Analyst
Inez DeJesus, Program Analyst
Nancy Ferree, TAP Manager
Judi Nicholas, TAP Manager

Guests:
Melissa Bensen, Vice Chair, Area 6
Ben Chapman, Panel Member, Area 2

Welcome/Announcements/Review Agenda
J.T. Wright welcomed everyone to the call. 

Roll Call
Quorum met.

National Office Update and Chair Report
See National Office Update and Chair Report.  No questions were raised concerning the reports.

DECISION:  The June 25, 26, and 27, 2007 minutes were approved as written. 
Ferd Schneider questioned the wording on the second page under the Area Counter Proposal Response section of the August 1, 2007 Minutes.  In his recollection, the recommendation was to show amount of capital loss carrying over not to previous year but to the following year.   
ACTION:  Foley will check with Area 1 to ensure wording change from “previous year” to “following year” is correct.
DECISION:  The August 1, 2007 meeting minutes were approved after wording change from “previous year” to “following year” is confirmed and completed.

Area 6 3455, Social Security Benefits – IRS Assumption of Base Amount
Melissa Bensen summarized the Area 6 referral.  Persons using the Married Filing Separate (MFS) filing status who have lived apart from their spouse for the whole year are required to enter the letter “D” or the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) assumes the base amount for determining the taxable portion of Social Security Benefits is zero.  The instruction to enter the letter indicator is in the worksheet portion and not in the line-by-line instructions.  Many filers skip the worksheet and miss this instruction.  Area 6 proposes the IRS add a caution statement in the instructions separate from the worksheet to let those filing MFS who have lived apart from their spouse for the full year to put this indicator on the line.  Bernie Coston asked if there was any determination of how many are missing the instruction.  Yes, 167,752 people.  However, with the aging baby boomers that number is more likely to increase rather than decrease.  Schneider believes this is a good proposal and asked as part of their research, did Area 6 ask for a master list of all write-in identifiers.  Bensen replied that Area 6 had asked and was told there wasn’t one available.  Area 6 does have this issue in its queue of issues.  Schneider stated that the list may change from year to year, for example, next year teachers will also need an identifier.  Schneider would assume there would be a master list since software programmers, both commercial and IRS would need to have that information. 
DECISION:  The Joint Committee reached consensus to elevate Area 6 3455, Social Security Benefits – IRS Assumption of Base Amount to the IRS.

IRS’ Responses to Elevated Recommendations
Coston and Nina Olson, National Taxpayer Advocate worked with former Acting Commissioner Kevin Brown to ensure the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP) receives responses on previously elevated issues.  Barbara Foley is in the process of loading the responses into the database and getting them out to the Areas for their decisions on how to handle.  Coston thanked Olson and Brown for their role in bringing this to the attention of the Wage and Investment (W&I) and the Small Business and Self-Employed (SB/SE) divisions’ executives.  J.T. Wright stated that it was very apparent that Brown and Rich Morgante, Commissioner of W&I, felt it was top priority for IRS to respond to the issues and TAP should take whatever time was needed to make quality decisions on closing the issue or responding back to the IRS.  A concern was raised that the date given to the Areas to respond did not provide a sufficient amount of time.  The time given was the standard 30 days; however, chairs should ask for additional time if their meeting schedule or workload will not provide the committee sufficient time to make a decision. 
ACTION:  Chairs needing additional time to make a decision on processing IRS’ responses should let Foley know if they need additional time

Jerry Fireman asked if the responses were more than a simple acknowledgement of receipt of the proposal.  Coston replied that it was a mix and each had to be evaluated; some were accepted and some IRS responded that they agreed but could not do now,
ACTION:  Foley will place an excerpt from the TAP Member Handbook on processing responses in the Elevated Recommendation folder on TAPSpace.

Commissioner Meeting Highlights and Action Items
Maryann Motza and her team were thanked for the great work in preparing the presentation.  Steve Berkey will be posting the notes from the meetings and the presentation document on TAPSpace in the next couple of days.  Bob Meyers said the meeting with Acting Commissioner Brown went well.  He was very open and knowledgeable about TAP and recommendations TAP had made which was refreshing.  He had an understanding of the volunteers’ efforts and their need to get responses that reflected that work.  Meyers felt that even though Brown is leaving the IRS, the meeting was worthwhile because it establishes the precedent of having the Commissioner support the TAP mission.  Olson’s support was also very evident.  These are the items discussed during the meeting:  Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TACs), the Public Information Campaign, Regulation of Return Errors, whether government benefits should be discontinued for those not paying taxes and the tax gap.

Motza added that TAP needs to figure out how to respond.  The items are not really action items but more open ended.  She felt TAP should respond to the new Acting Commissioner, Linda Stiff as well as Olson to demonstrate that TAP will be responsive in a timely manner when asked to do so.  Motza gave credit to the special subcommittee for preparing for the Commissioner meeting and also commended Program Analyst Dave Coffman who provided support and made the presentation look professional.  Deputy Commissioner Linda Stiff was not  present at the meeting because of a scheduling conflict.  Coston is working with her staff to ensure her presence at the TAP Annual Meeting in December.  J.T. Wright reported that the Acting Commissioner was handed the 2006 Annual Report and overall the meeting was very positive and builds on the credible relationship TAP already has with the IRS.  He also feels following up on the issues as Motza suggested is very important. 

There was some discussion on issue committee support because of turnover with program owners and lack of focus.  This issue was discussed at the meeting Coston, Meyers and Wright had with Morgante.  Morgante pledged to make the appointments of issue committee owners soon so they come to the annual meeting prepared.  He will also attend and address the group.  J.T. Wright added that his impression of Morgante was very positive support of TAP.  Morgante provided Meyers and J.T. Wright with the IRS responses to out-dated issues and promised that W&I will respond back to TAP more quickly in the future.  Coston has already begun working with W&I on the list of issue committees.
ACTION:  Chairs should review the Commissioner and Morgante materials on TAPSpace and encourage their fellow members to review.  In addition, start thinking of potential uses of the presentation document. 

Fireman said he is looking forward to reviewing the materials as TAC is mentioned several times. 

Summary of Chair Election Results
Schneider apologized for the length of the email but he wanted to make sure everyone had a chance to read all the comments; the most telling response is the compilation from new member surveys and their feelings about the election.  There are many good arguments on both sides of this issue.  Schneider indicated that during his first year on TAP, the election was held at the end of the meeting which gave people more time to get to know the candidates but then it affected all the committee elections.  The next year, it was held at the beginning which does not affect the committee elections but also does not give people a great deal of time to make a decision.  Another option is to have the election prior to the meeting which could work but TAP needs to think of ways to get the new members involved.  If TAP chooses that option, they need to move quickly to accomplish.

In his comments, Paul Duquette summarized what needs to be done and the time line if TAP chooses the option of holding the election prior to the meeting.  Wayne Whitehead was leaning toward holding the election at the annual meeting but can see the value of having the incoming chair provide input into the annual meeting agenda.  Since the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) does not have guidelines, it is up to the Joint Committee or Coston as Director to make the decision.  Coston said new members would still have the same number of opportunities to elect a chair since they would choose the new chair the year they rotate off.  The new-member survey supports having the outgoing members choose the chair prior to the annual meeting since they did not feel comfortable choosing a chair since they were not acclimated to the TAP environment.  However, there is a sizable minority that do not support excluding the new members from the election.  Schneider would counter this by suggesting new members do not have that much contact with the TAP chair and vice chair but do work closely with their committee chairs and vice chairs.  So, it is important for the new members to be involved in the committee elections but not as important for them to be involved in the TAP Chair election.  Hank Mosler suggested looking at ways to get new members more involved prior to the annual meeting.

Mosler asked if there was support for a nominating committee.  There is agreement it is a good idea but one misgiving is TAP does not have enough time before the annual meeting to accomplish. 
ACTION:  Schneider will put together a proposal which will be discussed at a special conference call on October 3, 2007.

Multi-media Subcommittee
Interest in this subject is twofold.  First, it began as a way to get the word out about TAP, and TAP asking large corporations and other entities to place information on their intranet sites about TAP and/or a link to TAP’s website.  Another part of this issue is whether TAP can garner support for its recommendations through general public by issuing news releases to the media.  The subcommittee will submit a more detailed recommendation in the future. 

Action Items Review
An action item review has been a standard agenda item for the Joint Committee agenda; however, it was decided that reviewing the action items was not a good use of the Joint Committee meeting time and will now be accomplished by email. 
ACTION:  The Joint Committee analyst will now do the action item review by email, asking the responsible party or parties if the action item is completed and removing the item from the minutes when it is completed.

Success Stories
Coston reported that the National Treasury Employee Union (NTEU) has placed a link on its site to improveirs.org and has given high accommodations to TAP regarding its comments to the IRS Commission on private debt collection. 

Meyers left the brochure prepared by Motza at his barbershop and his barber reported that many people were very interested in it.  He thinks the brochure is a good tool for outreach.

Closing
Meyers thanked all members who had input into this meeting.  All issues were presented well and concisely and he appreciated all the work done to accomplish this.   

Meeting Adjourned
Next Meeting:  Wednesday, October 3, 2007

• The August 1, 2007 meeting minutes were approved after wording change from “previous year” to “following year” is confirmed and completed.
• The Joint Committee reached consensus to elevate Area 6 3455, Social Security Benefits – IRS Assumption of Base Amount to the IRS.

All Chairs
Review the Commissioner and Morgante materials on TAPSpace and encourage their fellow members to review.  In addition, start thinking of potential uses of the presentation document. 

Area Chairs
Chairs needing additional time to make a decision on processing IRS’ responses should let Barbara Foley know if they need additional time

Foley
Place an excerpt from the TAP Member Handbook on processing responses in the Elevated Recommendation folder on TAPSpace.
Check with Area 1 to ensure wording change from “previous year” to “following year” is correct.

Joint Committee analyst
Do the action item review by email, asking the responsible party or parties if the action item is completed and removing the item from the minutes when it is completed.

Ferd Schneider
Put together a proposal which will be discussed at a special conference call on October 3, 2007.

• If the originating area does not accept the response from the IRS, the TAP Manager for that area should set up a teleconference with the author of the letter.  The TAP Manager should then notify the Joint Committee members of the time, date, and call-in information for the scheduled conference call.  (9/5/2007)
• The Joint Committee decided the annual report should focus on the accomplishments of TAP and not of the individual committees; it is not a competition. (June 25, 26 and 27, 2007)
• Accepted the stated referral process as a trial test for the next area referrals brought to the Joint Committee. (June 25, 26 and 27, 2007)
• Communication Strategy subcommittee formed to review the strategy, make suggestions on which strategies and actions should be assigned to the Joint Committee and set suggest priority levels.  The subcommittee is Tom Karwin, lead, MJ Lee, Paul Duquette and Judi Nicholas. (June 25, 26 and 27, 2007)
• TAP will not have a formal policy on setting the frequency of full committee and subcommittee meetings; however, committees need to be flexible and not meet if there are no decisions that need to be made or work to be done.  (10/12-14/2006) 
• When a committee receives information about a problem that IRS needs to be aware of quickly such as an incorrect link on its website, the committee should draft a letter following the format for referrals as closely as possible.  The paragraph will be reviewed by the Joint Committee and submitted, if approved, to the IRS under the TAP Chair’s signature.  (10/12-14/2006)

• Send ideas and thoughts concerning the uses of mass media to get the word out about TAP to Tom Karwin and Gil Yanuck to help shape a proposal.
• Forward information on their success stories to their committee analyst who will forward them to the Communication Committee. (5/2/2007)
• Send ideas on low-cost ways to publicize the TAP vision to Gil Yanuck, a TAP member on the Communication Committee, or to Barbara Toy who will make sure it is forwarded.  (4/4/2007)
• Any one who finds grammatical errors in the Joint Committee pre-read materials such as minutes and referrals should send the suggested corrections to Barbara Toy.  (02/07/2007)

• Review the Communication Strategy, set priorities and develop a work plan to accomplish the strategies during the year.  (March 7, 2007)

• Work on a time line for the Annual Report and bring it to the full Joint Committee for approval. (4/4/2007)

• Analysts who receive information on TAP successes from their chairs should forward that information to the Communication Committee Analyst

• The subcommittee was formed to review the strategy; make suggestions on which strategies and actions should be assigned to the Joint Committee and set suggested priority levels. (June 25, 26 and 27, 2007)
• Prepare a report and lead the discussion regarding the strategy during the Joint Committee meeting in Chicago in October.  (June 25, 26 and 27, 2007)

•  With Meyers take the mentoring information and draft a one page mentoring “how to” document.  (June 25, 26 and 27, 2007)
• Check with the Committee Management Officer (CMO) as to whether the discussion thread on TAPSpace fits in the FACA requirements and if they have to become part of the public record.  (June 25, 26 and 27, 2007)
• Find out if retired panel members can be brought back to fill vacancies.  (June 25, 26 and 27, 2007)

• Check with the Joint Committee members not at this meeting with the option of working on the Joint Committee Communication strategy document.  Meyers will check with Ken Wright as he is a returning member.  (June 25, 26 and 27, 2007)
• Lead a subcommittee to review the TAB report and prepare a draft document supplying the taxpayer’s view for review by the Joint Committee.  Fireman volunteered to be on the committee.  (June 25, 26 and 27, 2007)

•  With Coston will take the mentoring information and draft a one page mentoring “how to” document.  (June 25, 26 and 27, 2007)