Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP) Joint Committee Teleconference Minutes
Wednesday, March 5, 2008 - 2 p.m. ET

Designated Federal Official
Bernie Coston, TAP Director

Members Present
Hank Mosler, TAP Chair
MJ Lee, TAP Vice Chair
Shaun Barry, Chair, Area 1
Ben Chapman, Chair, Area 2
Dale Cooper, Chair, Area 3
Kenneth Wright, Chair, Area 5
Milissa Bensen, for Area 6
Charles Davidson, Chair, Area 7
Bruce Zgoda, Chair, Burden Reduction
Mark Paris, Chair, Communication
John Verwiel, Chair, EITC
Al Rodriguez, Chair, Forms and Pubs
Lee Stieger, Chair, Notices
Wayne Whitehead, Chair, TAC
Rick Rousseau, VITA

Members Absent
Stan Wernz, Chair, Area 4 (E)
Joe Shields, Chair, Area 6 (E)

Staff Present
Barbara Foley, Program Analyst
Patti Robb, Note Taker
Trish DeTimmerman, Acting TAP Manager
Nancy Ferree, TAP Manager
Steve Berkey, National Office Program Analyst
Inez DeJesus, Program Analyst

Visitors:
Robert Yandow,
Deidra Whiteside,  
Gil Yanuck, Former Panel Member

Welcome/Announcements/Review Agenda
Hank Mosler welcomed everyone. 

Roll Call
Quorum met.

National Office Report
See National Office Report.  This report is also posted to TAPSpace.  The TAP Charter was approved by Treasury on February 26, 2008.  This will allow TAP to continue operation through March 17, 2010.

TAP Chair Report
See TAP Chair Report.  Mosler spotlighted some of the report:

• Twenty TAP members participated in the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Awareness day in 12-13 states. 
• The Area 2 committee was commended for moving quickly on an issue (incorrect Social Security Form). 
• Congratulations to the Notices Committee for their letter of recognition from the IRS for all their hard work.
• TAP held their first town hall meeting in Birmingham, Alabama this year. 
• Mosler was invited to meet with the Oversight Board last week.  He felt the Board was very open to TAP’s view.  Coston noted National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA) Nina Olson wanted to thank Mosler for being there. 

Review and Approve February 6 Teleconference Minutes
The February minutes were approved as submitted. 

Feedback from February 6 Meeting
Ken Wright asked that feedback be turned in timely.  The most serious problem seemed to be the pace of the meeting which is caused by trying to cover too much in an hour.  Extraneous noise is also an ongoing issue.  Please remember to use a phone with mute capabilities during the conference calls or a headset.  
ACTION:  Barbara Foley will place a copy of the Meeting Satisfaction survey on TAPSpace in the Meeting Satisfaction folder in the Joint Committee folder for attendees who wish to comment on the meeting.
ACTION:  Joint Committee meeting attendees should submit their meeting satisfaction survey form to Ken Wright no later than the Friday following the Joint Committee meeting.

Recruitment
Steve Berkey reported that TAP is recruiting in 38 states looking to fill vacancies for 35 people.  Only one panel member expressed interest in ending their tenure early.  The test application is on the website.  Coston asked that all members test it; try different scenarios and try to “break” it so all the bugs are removed before it goes live on March 17.  It is good for members to test using their own computers because members often find problems that staff would not encounter using the IRS equipment. 

Area Recommendations for Review and Elevation to IRS

• None at this time
• Quality Review Process

Wayne Whitehead said there are currently three members on the team, himself, Ken Wright, and Hank Mosler.  The review will be based on the checklist and use the Government Printing Office (GPO) style menu and the TAP style guide as references. 

Wright put together an eight step Quality Review process which is posted to TAPSpace.  Recommendations should be submitted to quality review as soon as they are ready.  Only those submitted prior to the 15th of the month will likely be ready for the next Joint Committee agenda; however, there is no guarantee that it will be on that agenda.  Documents should be well written prior to coming to the Joint Committee quality review committee.  Mosler encouraged all chairs to become familiar with the eight step process.  TAP needs to have good solid issues submitted to the IRS so they get accepted but we also need to be appreciative of the efforts the volunteers put into bringing the issues forward.

• Status of Pending—Any Close to Completion

There are indications that some issues are close to completion.

June Face-to-Face Meeting
Thursday, June 19 will be a travel day.  Some members may have to travel on Wednesday, June 18 depending on flights.  The meeting starts at 1 pm on Thursday, all day Friday, and will end at noon on Saturday, in St. Louis, MO.  Planning the meeting will begin soon.  If you have topics you would like discussed at the meeting, send them to Hank Mosler who will try to work them into the agenda. 
ACTION:  Chairs should forward suggestions for the face-to-face meeting agenda to Hank Mosler.

Area/Issue Committee Monthly Reports  
A good compilation of February’s monthly committee reports was sent out to Joint committee members.  The monthly reports should be sent to your Committee’s manager and analyst by the 10th of each month.  The manager or analyst will forward the reports to Hank Mosler and Barbara Foley by the 15th of the month.  Please turn them in timely so Foley has time to post for pre-read for the next JC meeting. 

A concern was raised that taxpayers can still go back and claim the Federal Excise Tax credit but many taxpayers are not aware of the credit.  Hank Mosler suggested the issue be written up and presented to the Area Committee.  Steve Berkey reminded all that it is not TAP’s outreach mission to inform the public about tax issues; it is TAP’s outreach mission to inform the public about TAP and to gather “grass roots” issues.

Questions were raised about reporting outreach, getting the information timely and making sure it is all inclusive.  Berkey mentioned that a report was run for the TAP Annual Report and based on that TAP Staff and the Metrics Subcommittee are looking at ways to make the reporting and recording more consistent for outreach. 
ACTION:  Barbara Foley will mail Ken Wright a copy of the spreadsheet used to prepare the annual report.  Ken Wright will review and provide feedback on what chairs would need to complete their report.

Area 3 Town Hall Meeting Feedback
Dale Cooper said the Town Hall went very well.  The weather was awful, yet there was a good turnout.  The Local Taxpayer Advocate’s (LTA) staff was there and helped taxpayers experiencing personal problems.  Dale Cooper suggested having the TAS staff present as a future “Best Practice.”  Nina Olson, the National Taxpayer Advocate, did an excellent job; she touched on Offers-In-Compromise and other relevant topics.  The audience was receptive and brought good issues forward.  Before the town hall meeting, very few showed interest in being a part of the focus group session but 12 people ended up participating in the focus group.  Five TAP members attended.  All in all, this town hall was very successful even though we only had three weeks to prepare.  There was a whirlwind of media to publicize the meeting including coverage from four local television stations. 

Bernie Coston said Dale Cooper and Mark Paris did excellent jobs moderating the event and handling the media.  Hank Mosler asked if practitioners were the majority of the audience.  Ben Chapman thought practitioners were a minority and some attendees from Low Income Tax Clinics but it is hard to say especially for those who did not speak.  Dale Cooper added that especially with bad weather, more practitioners will show interest in this type of event.  He did believe, in this forum, they represented the interests of their clients rather than their interests as a tax preparer.  The focus group, even though it was cut it short, generated approximately 14 -16 issues. 

The next town hall will be held in Durham, NC on March 13.  Area 2 is already busy planning this meeting.  The date of the third town hall meeting in Springfield will be changing.  It was originally scheduled for Thursday, May 1.  More information will be coming on this topic. 

Area/Issue Committee Success Stories (e.g., Outreach, Special Events, Others)
Al Rodriguez said the Forms & Pubs Committee is currently reviewing some publications at the request of the IRS business office.  The Committee is also reviewing Spanish publications for the Multilingual Initiative (MLI) office.

Rick Rousseau attended a meeting in Atlanta concerning the new contract for tax software for the Volunteer Tax Return Preparation Program (VRPP).  The new contract is for the software volunteers will use in 2010.  The IRS is soliciting input on the software requirements.  Rousseau sent out a questionnaire for input to members of the Joint and the VITA Committees.  Rousseau asked that members with experience using the current software complete the survey and then share it with others in your VRPP sites.  Please send all feedback to Rousseau even if the forms are only partially filled out.  The due date is March 10 or 12.  It was recommended that the survey be sent out to prior TAP members and current members who have experience using tax preparation software so TAP can provide as much input as possible. 
ACTION:  Barbara Foley will send the tax return preparation software survey out to the whole panel as well as several retired TAP members (Paul Brubaker, Ferd Schneider Paul Duquette, Lyn Sinnamon, Gil Yanuck, and Beadsie Woo). 

The Notice Committee scored five or six documents and reviewed some of the tax stimulus documents.  The IRS sent the Committee a very nice “Thank You” letter for last year’s efforts (this letter is posted on TAPSpace).  The Committee is also providing feedback on documents for the visually impaired. 

John Verwiel reported that the IRS presented a very good power point programming on the EITC.  Program Analyst, Mary O’Brien, did a tremendous job in putting this information in an easily readable format.

The TAC Committee is doing an operations audit to improve the process. 

The Burden Reduction Committee identified subcommittees and is zeroing in on the 1099 issue and is close to specifying other issues to work.

Area 2 has a quality review team at the area level and it seems to be working pretty well.  One particular issue, electronic payments by individuals, where the money is taken out and yet a dunning notice is sent, was entered on the Systemic Advocacy Management Systems and is pending assignment. 

Public Comments
No comments. 

Meeting Adjourned

Next Meeting:  April 2, 2008, 2 p.m. ET

DECISIONS:

ACTIONS:

All:

• Please submit your meeting surveys to Ken Wright by Friday.

All Chairs:

• Forward suggestions for the face-to-face meeting agenda to Hank Mosler.

Foley: 

• Place a copy of the Meeting Satisfaction survey on TAPSpace in the Meeting Satisfaction folder in the Joint Committee folder for attendees who wish to comment on the meeting.
• Mail Ken Wright a copy of the spreadsheet used to prepare the annual report.  Ken Wright will review and provide feedback on what chairs would need to complete their report.
• Send the tax return preparation software survey out to the whole panel as well as several retired TAP members (Paul Brubaker, Ferd Schneider Paul Duquette, Lyn Sinnamon, Gil Yanuck, and Beadsie Woo). 

PRIOR MEETING ACTIONS AND DECISIONS:

All Chairs:

• Send an email to MJ Lee with your thoughts and comments regarding outreach and setting goals.
• Chairs with additional suggestions for improving the outreach feedback form should send them to directly Kay Bell.

Mark Paris:

• Send out the survey comment report.

Kay Bell:

• The Outreach Feedback Form will be updated with the suggestions made and Kay Bell will send the revised form out to all Joint Committee members.