SBSE Issue Committee Meeting Minutes
May 8, 2008
Teleconference

Program Owners

• Kieliszek, Charlotte
• Welsh, Kathy

Designated Federal Official

• Knispel, Marisa

Committee Members Present

• Brock, James
• Clapp, Marilyn
• Gursey, Gregory
• Jason, Julie
• Maisch, Steven
• McQuiston, Robert
• Mull, Robert
• Shah, Rajiv
• Zgoda, Bruce

Committee Members Absent

• Barry, Shaun
• Blanchard, Greg
• Lee, MJ
• Marker, Patrice

Welcome
Zgoda welcomed everyone to the call.

Roll Call
Quorum Met

Review Agenda

Program Owner Presentation
Analyst Kathy Welsh who is responsible for issues on the aging that the Office of Taxpayer Burden Reduction is currently examining, told us that her team met in April to discuss 1) improving IRS’ communication on the web with senior citizens and retirees, 2) developing an online calculator on irs.gov to calculate the taxable portion of Social Security benefits, 3) increasing the threshold for Social Security (a legislative issue) and facilitating the explanation and calculation of the taxability with the use of the Worksheet and the PowerPoint and chart that TAP has developed, 3) developing an online calculator to calculate the Required Minimum Distribution (RMD), 5) improving the Form 1099- its format and content.

Welsh indicated that she is trying to schedule a teleconference with her team, IRS Counsel, Forms & Publications and the TAP to discuss the third item aforementioned.  Discussion ensued on the RMD from a question Julie Jason asked in reference to IRS data on the penalties for either failing to receive/report the distribution and for reporting the incorrect distribution.

The subject of Social Security taxability, specifically the problem in calculating the taxable portion and also the fact that the threshold has not been increased for inflation since its inception in 1986 were also discussed. Welsh will request permission from the IRS to share with the TAP the agency’s legislative studies on this subject.   

Subcommittee Report-Out

Subcommittee on Schedule C Issues – Clapp reported.
IRS launched a news release on its campaign addressing new business owners. Since the release (i.e. the IRS) is already addressing some of the issues that concern this subcommittee, the members would appreciate more direction from the Program (Allen Jones) on these or other issues related to the Schedule and or new business owners.

A new item that the subcommittee would like to address is the fact that irs.gov does not provide a link to obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN).  Also, they would like to recommend that the EIN unit send a package to those EIN applicants when they call their toll-free number. 

Clapp also stated that a reason for the underutilization of the Schedule C-EZ is that this form does not allow for NOL (Net Operating Loss) carry forward/ carry back provisions and they would like to recommend the IRS change the Schedule’s format that would accomplish this such as an increase in the expense limit from $5,000 to $10,000. Accomplishing this will encourage more taxpayers to file.      

Subcommittee on Aging Issues – Margulies reported
Welsh, the Program Owner for this subcommittee, had already informed meeting participants on this subcommittee’s work.  Margulies spoke about a TIGTA study on the issues of the elderly.
 
Public Participation
None

Closing
Zgoda thanked everyone for attending.