Wage & Investment Reduce Taxpayer Burden (Notices) Meeting Minutes

July 7, 2005

Participants (Panel Members):

• Anthony DiMartino
• Dick Greenberg
• Michael Guthman
• Sonny Kasturi
• Allena Lu
• Don Miller
• Joyce Natter
• Martin Romeril
• Ferd Scheider
• Sanford Searleman
• Virginia Symonds
• James Wright

Not Present:

• John Hollingsworth
• Martin Romeril
• Neil Mitchell
• R. Jeana Warren
• Douglas Wilhelm
• Warren Wong

Staff Members:

• Sallie Chavez (Recorder)
• Nancy Ferree (DFO)

Guests

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

Welcome
Committee Chair Mike Guthman welcomed everyone.

Roll Call
Program Analyst/Recorder Sallie Chavez took the roll call and quorum of nine (9) was met.

Review/Approval of Prior Meeting Minutes
The meeting minutes were approved by consensus.

Sub-Committee Reports

• Document Assessment Tool (DAT)
  TAP Program Analyst reported that she has received several “final” notices that need to be scored. She has contacted subcommittee lead Don Miller and he has advised her to assign them as fairly as possible.

  Committee Chair Mike Guthman reported the IRS has responded back to the committee about the DAT Excel Spreadsheet that Committee Member John Hollingsworth created. They are very excited about it and want to use it. They want to make a couple of enhancements and will send the committee the final version when it is complete. The enhancements are minor and should not affect the use of the spreadsheet. He requested that the letter from the IRS be forwarded to all members.

• Dynamic Project Team (DPT)
  Committee Member Tony DiMartino reported on the DPT stub team conference call that he, and Committee Members J T Wright and Warren Wong participated. The IRS DPT asked the committee members for their input and recommendations. TAP Program Analyst said she had received samples and had sent these samples to the subcommittee yesterday.

• Incoming Referrals
  There was no report. Committee Member Sandy Searleman said he would like to have a current copy of the subcommittees. This revised list will be sent out to all members.

• Notice Elimination NPIIT Conference Call
  No report.

• Goals and Objectives
  Subcommittee lead J T Wright reported the subcommittee was going to have a conference call next week to discuss the vision, mission and value statement for the group. Committee Chair Mike Guthman asked him to please have something for the committee a week before the August meeting.

Comments from SPOC Representative
SPOC Representative Jim Cesarano reported the following:

• A response has been received from Lois Bailey and Beverly Mobley concerning the focus group comments made at the face-to-face meeting in Atlanta.

• He is ready to write his report on the focus group he conducted at the face-to-face meeting in Atlanta. He would like an email from everyone if they have any comments that he did not capture from his presentation. Committee Chair Mike Guthman asked that members send their comments to him by next Thursday (July 14, 2005) and he will forward one email to SPOC Representative Cesarano with all the comments from the committee.

• There is a DPT for the notice stubs. They will be doing testing later in the year. The lead on this DPT is Linda Lightner.

• The “final” versions of the Collection Notices are ready to be scored.

• The charter for the Notice Elimination NPIIT has been sent out to NCAG. He explained some of the changes. The next meeting will be on July 14. There is a possibility of a meeting in Washington, DC within the next four (4) weeks. There will be no formal presentation however, TAP will be invited to participate in the meeting.

• Carolyn Taverner who was the Director of Media and Publications is now the Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Operations. She is a supporter of reader focus writing.

• The SBSE SPOC and W & I SPOC have merged. He doesn’t know how that will affect the committee.

• Mark Pursley was promoted to Customer Assistance, Relationship and Education (CARE). Media and Publications are under CARE.

• Subject Matter Expert Geoff Gebore has asked the committee to help him on working on the CP79. He is also working with the EITC Issue Committee. There was a TIGTA report on the CP79 stating it was unclear to taxpayers. There are four (4) version of the CP79 that he would like the committee to score.
  
  1. The CP79 that TIGTA looked at.
  2. The Examination Version.
  3. The SPOC Version.
  4. The Legal Council Version

He would also like to have a teleconference with the committee members who scored the notices. They may do usability testing later this year if there is funding available.

• There are funds available for a tour of the Detroit Print Site. SPOC Representative Jim Cesarano will get together with Committee Chair Mike Guthman, TAP Program Manager Nancy Ferree and TAP Program Analyst Sallie Chavez to discuss possible dates.

• The Penalty and Interest DPT conducted usability testing in June. TAP Program Analyst reported she had just received an email from DPT Lead Deborah Maxwell about usability testing scheduled for July. The testing will be in Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Montgomery, AL and Denver, CO. She asked if Committee Member Allena Lu in Los Angeles and Ferd Schneider in Cincinnati were available to observe the testing. They are. Further information will be forwarded to them for their attendance.

August Conference Call
Committee Chair Mike Guthman reminded everyone that the August conference call has been changed from August 3 to August 11 because the staff will be in training the first week in August. An email reminder will be sent to all committee members.

Additional Comments
Committee Chair Mike Guthman stated that he is required to write an annual report. He is asking the subcommittee chairs to assist him in writing this report.

Committee Member Dick Greenberg reported on a situation he had concerning a notice. He said he contacted the number on the notice and within five (5) minutes, he had his answer.

Meeting Close
Next meeting is scheduled for August 11, 2005.