January 10, 2003
Teleconference Meeting

Opening of the Meeting
Committee Chair Beyreis opened the meeting at 1:04 p.m. Eastern Time by welcoming all members.

Roll Call - taken by TAP Program Analyst Marisa Knispel; quorum of 7 was reached.

Panel Members Attending

• Abigail Alicea, Nashua, NH
• Linda Bader, Chesterfield, MO
• Mary Lou Beyreis, Jacksonville, FL, Chair (Temporary)
• Elizabeth Brodbine-Ghoniem
• Inez E. DeJesus, Fort Lauderdale, FL, DFO
• Yvonne Gallegos-Bodle, Oxnard, CA
• Sharon Lassar, Miami, FL
• Bruce Twomley, Juneau, AK

Absent

• Mary Balmer, Chapel Hill, NC
• Carl Hansen, Indianapolis, IN
• Kenneth Logan, Blue Springs, MO
• Joseph Meissner, Cleveland, OH
• Sharon Stetz, Salt Lake City, UT

TAP and IRS Staff Attending

• Marisa Knispel, TAP Program Analyst (Note Taker)
• Nikki Oyefeso, MLI Program Owner
• Nancy L. Ferree, Program Manager

Guests

• Susan Morgenstern, Esq, Legal Aid Society of Cleveland
• Dan Rinke, Commercial Clearing House

Election for Permanent Chair/Vice-Chair
Designated Federal Official (DFO) De Jesus reported the following results received from the email she had sent to all:

Chairperson: Mary Lou Beyreis
Vice-Chairperson: Sharon Lassar

Since there were no objections, these will go on record as being TAP MLI's permanent Chair and Vice-Chair and "Congratulations" were extended to both Mary Lou and Sharon.

Review and Approval of Minutes
Committee Chair Beyreis led discussion on the minutes of the November 22, 2002 teleconference meeting. Member Bodle made motion to accept and Member Bader seconded the motion. The minutes were approved.

Face-to-Face Meeting
Discussion ensued on the prescheduled face-to-face meetings for February and June. Chair Beyreis indicated that in the last Joint Committee meeting, participants were told that it is not mandatory for the Issue Committees to hold face-to-face meetings since an issue has already been assigned to them. Program Owner Oyefeso and some members shared the view that working in a face-to-face environment would allow all committee members to know each other, to establish a better working relationship, provide an educational experience and work on an action plan. Other members felt it is unnecessary and premature to hold a face-to-face meeting as early as February since the subcommittees have not developed their problem statements.

Consensus was reached to postpone the first face-to-face meeting for some time until after the filing season taking into consideration those members involved in tax preparation. The decision caused a change in the Committee's calendar: next teleconference meeting to be held on February 14, 2003 at 1:00 p.m. EST.

Action item: DFO DeJesus will review the TAP master calendar to determine the best time to hold the face-to-face meeting and share this information with the members via email.

Finalization and Next Steps for Problem Statements
Program Owner Oyefeso briefed the committee on absentee Member Logan's Problem Statement (a. Recommendations on how the IRS can better assist LEP taxpayers in navigating the IRS system and understanding its processes). The problem, according to Member Logan, is for those taxpayers receiving IRS notices who seek the phone assistance indicated in the notice and become more confused when calling due to language barriers. This causes the taxpayers to 1) seek the paid services of an accountant, 2) follow the misunderstood advice of IRS personnel and thus continue accrual of penalties and interest, and/or 3) change company name and continue operating under another name to avoid the problem. As a solution to the problem, Member Logan recommends a direct contact to IRS personnel who will assist Limited English Proficient (LEP) taxpayers to resolve IRS problems in their language. Vice-Chair Lassar suggested that the Multilingual Initiative be implemented in the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) offices of each state in the country. Program Owner Oyefeso added that the IRS units involved in taxpayer education provide liaisons with organizations that offer tax assistance and problem resolution to LEP taxpayers.

Action item: DFO DeJesus will do research to confirm that each state has a TAS office available.

Vice-Chair Lassar made three recommendations in her Problem Statement (b. Recommend ways to externally identify and validate vital documents) - 1) for TAP to follow up on the MLI Vital Document Needs Assessment Report (June 2002), 2) to develop a systemic approach to identify which languages IRS should consider for translation, 3) to develop a system for IRS to monitor and update translation needs. From these recommendations, Vice-Chair Lassar has developed the following action items for TAP: 1) to develop a formal recommendation on translation services from IRS's form usage and census data statistics, 2) to recommend implementation of a Spanish assistance phone-line that would be advertised on IRS notices. This recommendation would be forwarded to Issue Committee on Notices, 3) to develop partnerships with LEP stakeholders (other than Spanish-speaking), 4) to visit LITC or Walk-In site to assess LEP needs, 5) to develop a checklist and/or survey for visits to Walk-In sites. Program Owner Oyefeso indicated that the recommendation to implement an assistance phone-line in Spanish as already been initiated. She will share written information on this recommendation via email. Member Lassar added that the phone-line and other efforts should be considered at a multilingual level.

Member Bader presented her Problem Statement (c. Recommend cost-effective ways to address the needs of recently migrated immigrant groups and educate them on tax compliance) - on communicating and educating immigrants in "pocket communities" on their responsibility to file taxes. She recommends using IRS partnerships with local organizations to carry on this task.

All Problem Statements were shared with committee members prior to teleconference.

Action item: Chair Beyreis requested that DFO DeJesus e-mail all members a list of Problem Statements subcommittees to select their preference in participating in them. (Problem statements a,b,and c will be from now on referenced as #1, 2, and 3) in the order as indicated above)

Public Participation/Input
Chair Beyreis requested guests' comments on the meeting.

Ms. Morgenstern thanked the committee and explained that her interest lies mainly on problems with the EITC IRS Notices received by LEP taxpayers.

Mr. Rinke also thanked the committee for allowing him to participate.

Recommendation: (reached by consensus)- was made to formalize a statement that proposes that the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) culled from the kiosks be made available on the website. These FAQ's would be posted in the same language(s) that are available on the kiosks.

Closing Remarks
DFO De Jesus informed all that she would be sharing cost comparison of locations for future face-to-face meetings once dates and specific locations are finalized.

Chair thanked all members for their participation.

Meeting Close
Committee Chair Beyreis closed the meeting at 2:02 PM.

The next MLI Teleconference meeting will be on Friday, February 14, 2003 at 1:00pm EST. (same dial-in number and participants code will be used until further notice)

February 14, 2003