Wage & Investment Reduce Taxpayer Burden (Notices) Meeting Minutes

February 26, 2004
1:00pm 5:00pm ET
Atlanta, Georgia

Participants (Panel Members):

• Phil Bryant
• C. Morgan Edwards
• Charles (Skip) Eshelman
• Robin Gausebeck
• John Hollingsworth
• William Murphy
• David Robinson
• Thomas Seuntjens
• Eileen Shuman
• George Sullivan
• Virginia Symonds
• Jeana Warren
• Nancy Ferree - DFO

Not Present:

• Mary Balmer
• Anthony DiMartino
• Curtis Feese

Staff Members:

• Sallie Chavez (Recorder)
• Nancy Ferree, TAP Manager

Guests/SPOC Representative:

• James (Jim) A. Cesarano, Program Analyst, Wage & Investment, Single Point of Contact
• Bonnie Babcock, Program Analyst, Notice Support Group

Welcome and Announcements/Roll Call
Committee Chair Skip Eshelman welcomed everyone to the second half of today since the first half of the day was a training session.

Program Analyst/Recorder Sallie Chavez took the roll call and quorum is met.

Comments
Committee Chair Skip Eshelman stated that the exercise done during the first half of the day was administrative not functional. Committee Member Phil Bryant stated it was worthwhile. He doesn't think the committee should spend a lot of time on it. He suggests a subcommittee. Committee Member John Hollingsworth said the committee should grade the notices after they are rewritten. He recognized notices needed to be graded. Notices should be clear and concise. Committee Chair Skip Eshelman asked does the committee only review after the notices have been rewritten? SPOC Representative Jim Cesarano said he thinks the group would like to be more involved in the redesign of the notices. This requires going through the Dynamic Process Team (DPT). To rewrite a notice any other way would involve going through the Commission of the Operating Division. SPOC Representative Cesarano does not want the committee to rewrite notices and not see anything for four (4) years until a DPT is set up.

Committee Member Jeana Warren said the committee needed to provide input into what is being worked. Committee Chair Skip Eshelman commented that the group could be helpful in combating resistance. Committee Member Tom Seuntjens said that some committee members don't want to analyze notices nor do they want to fight bureaucracy to change the system.

Committee Member George Sullivan asked how many notices are being worked on now? SPOC Representative Jim Cesarano said the plan was to have 20 DPTs for FY 2004. Because of budget problems it is now 9 DPTs. The plan is to have 20 DPTs for 2005.

SPOC Representative Jim Cesarano said that he would like the committee to look at the overall picture. It is to evaluate the procedure to develop a standard for what notices should look like. This is only one piece. What is needed is to develop an on going process. The SPOC wants to get the committee involved directly in the DPTs. Need to see what notices need to be worked on first.

Committee Member Morgan Edwards agrees with Committee Member Seuntjens. He sees that there are two roles for the committee. The system needs to be evaluated as to how notices are changed. The process is too long and cumbersome. Committee Member Dick Murphy is convinced that there are barriers. He would like to know if this process would help to speed up the process? It's a mega approach.

SPOC Representative Jim Cesarano said if the committee wants to go in that directions he will need to see what they can do. If the committee wants to get involved in policy decision-making they need to define their scope. The committee should look at the notarization reports. Committee Member Morgan Edwards said the problem needed to be highlighted. Need notices going out to taxpayers that they can understand.

Committee Member Jeana Warren said that the committee may need to rethink what they are doing. Area committees are to look at “grass root issues” while issue committee already had issues from the operating divisions. The issue committee is a “sounding board” for the IRS. Committee Member Tom Seuntjens stated that the committee needed to better define what is worked on. He thinks it can be a “two way street”.

Review/Approve Minutes of January 28, 2004
The minutes are approved by consensus.

Notice Standardization
Bonnie Babcock is an Analyst with the Notice Support Group. The Notice Support Group supports all the SPOCs and helps set up Dynamic Project Teams (DPT) and Notice Process Improvement Initiative Teams (NPIIT). She is currently leading a NPIIT on notice standardization. The team wants the notices to be recognizable. The language team wants to determine what has to be on the notice. Another thing that need to be done is to determine what has to be in the notice such as the layout.

They are in the process of preparing a style guide for what has to be in notice. The goal is to write in plain language. They want to have a generic style for all notices.

Committee Member Tom Seuntjens asked if the IRS would universally use it? Bonnie Babcock stated that the team is waiting to get a “buy in” from all the organizations. She provided a copy of the NPIIT Charter.

DFO Nancy Ferree asked if there were any other external stakeholder. Bonnie Babcock said not yet but that they had been identified.

Bonnie Babcock went over the charter with the committee. She stated some of the meetings would be face-to-face but they were going to be working mostly by conference calls. They are working to capture all notices including Small Business Self Employed (SBSE). The style guide will probably be a “work in progress”.

They have a timetable for working on this process. It is moving quickly. Deadlines are coming up in March and April. She's not sure that they will be met. The outline of the style guide should be out this month.

Notice Support Group has only been in existence for about a year.

Committee Member Robin Gausebeck says the group has clear-cut ideas of what works and what doesn't work, graphics and the way things are explained. Committee Member Dick Murphy asked what the group could do to help. Since she did not know what the group does she didn't really know. She has a better idea now than she did before.

Committee Member Tom Seuntjens asked what is the time commitment and what is required? She said they have a database (an access database) for this project. She will provide copies of the database to interested committee members through TAP Program Analyst Sallie Chavez.

Subcommittee Selection
Committee Vice-Chair Eileen Shuman led a discussion about setting up subcommittees. The subcommittees are set up as follows:

Language Standardization (working with Bonnie Babcock's team)

• Virginia Symonds (lead)
• Morgan Edwards
• Dick Murphy
• Skip Eshelman
• Tom Seuntjens

Document Assessment Tool (DAT) (working with Jim Cesarano)

• Robin Gausebeck (lead)
• John Hollingsworth
• Jeana Warren
• Eileen Shuman

This committee will report information to the Language Standardization coordinator (Bonnie Babcock) for inclusion into their database.

Referrals

• John Hollingsworth (lead)
• Tony DiMartino
• Eileen Shuman
• David Robinson
• Virginia Symonds

This committee will review referrals that come to the committee from Area Committee's or directly from taxpayers.

NPIIT Report (Protocol Testing)

• Phil Bryant (lead)
• Tony DiMartino
• Mary Balmer

SPOC – Phase II (correspondex letters) Notice Elimination – start at the end of summer (3 months or longer)

Action Item – will revisit in 60 days

DPT
CP71 blueprint (procedure guide) due out soon as to how DPTs will run – Program Owner wants TAP as team member.

Committee Member Tom Seuntjens wants to know where the committee will be most effective on this project. SPOC Representative stated that TAP may never be able to have committee member as full time member because of disclosure but they can at least be represented as a stakeholder.

• Tony DiMartino (lead)
• Virginia Symonds
• Tom Seuntjens
• John Hollingsworth

Comments from SPOC Representative
SPOC Representative Jim Cesarano stated that the most important issue being worked right now is language standardization. The idea is to reduce the taxpayer's burden. They are looking to see how taxpayers feel about the penalty and interest portion of the notices. They want to look at what has a positive impact on taxpayers.

SPOC Representative Jim Cesarano stated he would talk to the Program Owner about future plans for the committee.

SPOC Representative Jim Cesarano said that the DRAFT Report on his NPIIT has been revised. He will email a copy of it to TAP Program Analyst Sallie Chavez for her to mail out to committee members. Some of the issues that were discussed in the report are:

• Recommendation to pick up demand notices for more than one year.
• Installment Agreement Form stuffed in with other notices may not be effective. Form 9465 is included with notices where there is a balance due. In 2003, 19 million of these forms were “stuffed” in notices. Only 2 million installment agreements were established of which only 250,000 could have come from these stuffers.

Committee Member Phil Bryant asked if there was any research on the cost of this. SPOC Representative Jim Cesarano stated it was approximately $.47 per notice. Committee Member Bryant asked if GAO had done any studies on this. SPOC Representative Cesarano stated that notices have not been focused on in that manner.

Committee Vice-Chair Eileen Shuman stated that the DAT subcommittee was composed of only four (4) people. She wondered if that was enough to work on this issue. SPOC Representative Jim Cesarano stated that everyone should be part of the DAT. The subcommittee should write up the report. He is not comfortable with only four (4) people scoring the notices. The committee can talk more about this later.

New Business
Committee Chair Skip Eshelman stated that at the previous Joint Committee Meeting the TAP Director advised the chairs that there would be enough money in the budget to have seven (7) additional meetings. The chairs agreed that some issue committees wanted another meeting and some area committees wanted another meeting. The Notices Committee was permitted to have another meeting. SPOC Representative stated that he did not have anything right now but he will have something by September. He may have results from other project by then.

There was discussion about the date for the 2nd meeting. It was decided on August 13 & 14. The location was discussed. TAP Analyst Sallie Chavez provided computations on travel costs for several locations. Several more locations were discussed (Jackson, MS; Boston, MA; Las Vegas, NV; Pittsburgh, PA; Charlotte, NC). Computations will be prepared for these cities by TAP Analyst Sallie Chavez and forwarded to committee members for their consideration.

Meeting Close
Committee Chair Skip Eshelman advised everyone that the committee (as a whole) would meet back at this meeting room tomorrow at 8:00am to continue the training from SPOC Representative Jim Cesarano.

Meeting was adjourned.

February 27, 2004
1:00pm 5:00pm ET
Atlanta, Georgia

Participants (Panel Members):

• Phil Bryant
• C. Morgan Edwards
• Charles (Skip) Eshelman
• Robin Gausebeck
• John Hollingsworth
• William Murphy
• David Robinson
• Thomas Seuntjens
• Eileen Shuman
• George Sullivan
• Virginia Symonds
• Jeana Warren
• Nancy Ferree - DFO

Not Present:

• Mary Balmer
• Anthony DiMartino
• Curtis Feese

Staff Members:

• Sallie Chavez (Recorder)
• Nancy Ferree, TAP Manager
• Martha Curry, TAP Analyst, Washington

Guests/SPOC Representative:

• James (Jim) A. Cesarano, Program Analyst, Wage & Investment, Single Point of Contact

Welcome & Introduction
Committee Chair Skip Eshelman welcomed everyone back for the 2nd session of our meeting. He introduced National Office TAP Program Analyst Martha Curry. She stated she was there representing TAP Director Bernie Coston who was unable to attend the meeting.

DFO Nancy Ferree announced that the guest speaker for today's meeting was not able to attend. Committee Chair Skip Eshelman ask if the committee concluded all the business they had to do today, is it acceptable to end the meeting today? Contact DFO Nancy Ferree, TAP Program Analyst Sallie Chavez or National TAP Program Martha Curry to check on travel arrangements for those who want to leave tonight.

Comments from SPOC Representative
SPOC Representative Jim Cesarano stated he would provide the committee with the following information:

• DPT Schedule
• Survey Results
• CP71 Usability Survey
• CP2000 – latest copy
• NPIIT Report (revised)

Committee Member Tom Seuntjens would like to have a copy of the notice process that was to be address during the meeting. SPOC Representative Jim Cesarano stated there is an Executive Summary that is available. He will obtain a copy and forward it to TAP Program Analyst Sallie Chavez to distribute to the committee.

After breaking into subcommittees, the meeting will be adjourned.

Vice Chair Eileen Shuman reviewed subcommittees.

Breakout Into Subcommittees
The committee broke out into subcommittees as they were formed in yesterdays meeting.

Meeting Close
Meeting was adjourned.

ACTION ITEMS

SPOC Representative

• DPT Schedule
• Survey Results
• CP71 Usability Survey
• CP2000 – latest copy
• NPIIT Report (revised)

TAP Program Analyst

• Access Database from Notice Standardization NPIIT
• Travel Computations
• Mail out information from SPOC Representative

Committee

• SPOC – Phase II (correspondex letters) Notice Elimination – start at the end of summer (3 months or longer) – revisit in 60 days