Teleconference Meeting
November 27, 2002 - 12:00PM EST

Participants (Panel Members):

• Phil Bryant, Chairperson
• Anthony Di Martino
• C. Morgan Edwards, Vice-Chair
• Curtis Feese
• William (Dick) Murphy
• David Robinson
• Thomas Seuntjens
• George Sullivan
• Virginia Symonds
• R. Jeana Warren
• Sallie Chavez (Designated Federal Official)

Staff Members:

• Inez E. De Jesus (Recorder)
• Nancy L. Ferree

Guest(s):

• James A. Cesarano, Program Analyst, Wage & Investment, Single Point of Contact Office

Welcome and Announcements/Roll Call
Chairperson Phil Bryant began meeting timely by welcoming all participants, and a special welcome was extended to guest, Program Analyst James A. Cesarano, who has an extensive background on IRS Notices.

Note taker De Jesus took the roll call; quorum as per "Notices Operating Procedures Guidelines" of 10 were met. (2/3rds of committee members)

Review & Approve Minutes of October 29, 2002 Meeting
After note taker gave a brief review of the "draft" minutes from the previous meeting, and there were no objections; these minutes were accepted by consensus.

Topic of Meeting

Location of face-to-face meetings-
Committee agreed to hold their first face-to-face meeting February 21-22. 2003. Designated Federal Official (DFO) Chavez shared that she has been researching what the cost of these meetings will be if held at the following locations:

• Fort Lauderdale, Florida
• Jacksonville, Florida
• Los Angeles, California
• Dallas, Texas
• Houston, Texas
• San Antonio, Texas
• Portland, Oregon

DFO Chavez shared with the committee that the least expensive location is Jacksonville, Florida. There is a $1,300.00 difference between Jacksonville and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Also, the TAP Staff office in Fort Lauderdale, Florida is available for consideration. Since there still is no information on the Internal Revenue Service budget, these plans are not finalized yet.

The current goal is to obtain the lowest cost and at the best location for all participants. It was suggested that the location of the face-to-face meeting be where one of the committee members resides. Also, preference was made towards choosing San Antonio, Texas.

Action item: DFO Chavez will update cost projections by including additional two members, and email to everyone this information prior to the next meeting.

No decisions were made concerning the June 2003 face-to-face meeting.

Overview of meeting in Washington with W&I Notice Unit-

Vice-Chair C. Morgan Edwards and DFO Chavez shared their recent experiences when they both were invited on November 19, 2002 to an IRS meeting in New Carrollton, Maryland regarding "Notices". The meeting's primary objective was to prioritize which IRS Notices will be changed/modified for 2004. The committee agreed that one of their primary goals is to learn the Notice process. It was suggested that a flow chart be created. Second goal is to remove information from Notices that is not essential. All agreed that "Simplicity" is the key; notices should be 1-2 pages only. The committee also agreed that there is a need to obtain information from the "catalog of standard notices" and share list of notices and have subcommittee(s) review.

Action item: DFO Chavez is to provide Notice Process Flowchart to all with background information, e.g. how many notices currently exist and what category do they fall under?

Action item: DFO Chavez is to send out to this committee a list of approximately 300 computer- generated notices. What is the percentage of taxpayers that receive notices and what are the top 10 notices that go out?

Objective by next meetings: Chairperson and DFO want to be ready to share what the top 10 notices are and subcommittees will be created. By the February 2003 face-to-face meeting, subcommittee will report back their findings.

Volunteers to serve on subcommittee as of today are:

Phil Bryant, C. Morgan Edwards, Dave Robinson, Tony Di Martino and Sallie Chavez; C. Morgan Edwards will be Chair on the subcommittee.

New Business
Guest/Program Analyst James Cesarano explained that the IRS' primary goal, since the Service has undergone reorganization, is to obtain notice clarity. Mr. Cesarano shared that the style of writing currently being used is the "Reader Focus Writing" style, also known as "plain language"; he also shared that the process of changing notices takes a long time. He foresees that current changes may not be seen until 2005.

Mr. Cesarano emphasized the importance in obtaining external input and he also felt that by testing or marketing a way to see how taxpayers understand modified notices is vital to the Notice Program. The committee can act as a conduit in obtaining input from taxpayers via focus group meetings. (Consideration towards professional groups was discussed)

Mr. Cesarano referenced: www.plainlanguage.gov.

All committee members agreed to be engaged with the process of reviewing notices. The committee requested to see samples of "exceptionally good notices"- e.g. CP 32, 37A. "Letter(s)" or "communication to the taxpayer" should replace the word notice.

Meeting Closing Remarks
Mr. Cesarano expressed gratitude for being allowed to participate on this teleconference meeting And looked forward to be working with this committee. The committee also thanked Mr. Cesarano for sharing his expertise with them.

Chairperson ended timely at 1:00pm EST, and the next teleconference meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, December 18, 2002, at Noontime, EST.