November 12, 2002

The SBSE Fair Compliance (Schedule C Non-filers) Committee met via teleconference on Tuesday, November 12, 2002.

Members in Attendance:

• Richard Cormier, Manassas, CO
• Chris Forzano, Vancouver, WA
• Dick Greenberg, Hinsdale, IL
• Edward Hanna, Tampa FL
• Karen Kerrigan, Vienna, VA
• Jim McGurn, Designated Federal Official
• Paul Nagel, Glen Cove, NY
• Owen Oatley, Holly Hill, FL
• Harvey Schiff, Florence, SC
• Teresa Smedley, Salem, IN
• Charles Taylor, San Diego, CA

Other Attendees:

• Sandra McQuin, TAP Program Manager
• Mary Peterson O'Brien, Note taker

Welcome/Announcements/Review Agenda
Paul Nagel opened the business meeting. Paul welcomed all members and introduced Harvey Schiff as a new committee member from Florence, SC. All panel members introduced themselves. The agenda was reviewed with no changes made.

Roll Call
Mary Peterson O'Brien took a roll call of all panel members present on the call.

Review/Approve Minutes
The October Meeting minutes were approved with no changes.

Report on Joint Committee Meeting
Paul Nagel summarized the issues covered by the Joint Committee:

• A Monthly committee report is due on 14th of each month to the Joint Committee. Both the Subcommittee Chair and the IRS analyst assigned to the committee are jointly responsible in the preparation and submission of the report.
• The Joint Committee will meet every 3rd Tuesday of every month.
• All minutes will be on the web site after approved by the committee www.improveirs.org
• Chair doesn't want to have the same subcommittee's working on the same issue. Jim McGurn will discuss this issue at the staff meeting.

Vote on Approving Temp Chair as Permanent Chair and vote for a Vice Chair

Jim McGurn discussed that not all panel members have been selected and placed in committees. It would be a good idea to have all members on board before selecting a permanent chair. It was discussed by the group that it is not known when all members would be on board. It would be better to elect a permanent chair now to advert any more delays. Members brought up the fact that the members were not selected. By consensus, Paul Nagel was permanently selected as chairperson.

Nominations were held for a vice chair. Karen Kerrigan was nominated. Karen accepted the nomination.

Selected vice-chair by consensus: Karen Kerrigan

Establishing Sub-Committees within the Committee
Jim McGurn talked about what a sub-committee is and delegation of authority for sub-committees. It was discussed to have subcommittees on an as needed basis. The issue was put on hold.

Determine duties of Chair and Vice-Chair
By consensus, it was agreed that the chair and vice-chair's duties would be the same as described in the operating procedures.

Future Meeting Planning
The committee discussed having two face-to-face meetings. Jim gave a cost analysis for the following cities:

• Chicago
• Dallas
• Los Angeles
• New Orleans
• St Louis
• Tampa, FL
• Washington, DC

Some concerns over the topic of face-to-face meetings were expressed.

• It wouldn't be all that valuable to overlap one issue committee and one area, it would be better to have all areas and all issues together.
• Possibility of overlapping two areas in the same location for a meeting
• Paul Nagel offered to bring up the issue to Joint Committee of having a semi-annual meeting.
• Area meeting in mid December should be cancelled. Should have it in June to avoid filing season for practitioners.
• Advantage of having a meeting in the sates of the own area is that citizens from that area have the opportunity to provide input.

Consensus was reached for the date and time of the next subcommittee teleconference. December 10th at 2pm. All teleconferences will be each 2nd Tuesday of every month at Eastern Standard Time.

Parking Lot:
Until a budget can be determined on how many face-to-face meetings are possible, the decision on what month and location would be postponed. The preferred dates would be January and May. If only one face-to-face meeting is budgeted than the meeting would be in May. Possible locations are:

• Dallas
• Chicago
• Atlanta
• Denver
• Phoenix

Public Input
None

Possible Issues for next meeting

• Data and Research IRS has previously done around the Schedule C issue. Michael Sollitto is in the process of compiling what the IRS has previously done and will participate on the next conference call.
• Schedule C EZ - Raise the threshold to above $2500.00
• Agenda Items should be sent to chair and to Jim McGurn.
• Consistency with Form 1099 misc, Schedule C, Social Security Credit (amount $600, $400, $800)
• Schedule C non-filers going to include with Schedule F? Maybe an issue for area committee
• Immigration law of 1986 to be an employee has to fill out I-9 and cannot receive W-2. How to inform non-Americans that they are required to file tax returns?
• E-Bay - 50,000 members who buy and sell on e-bay - how many are non-filers? Is this an issue?
• Possibility of reviewing General Accounting Office (GAO) report - lots of people and groups who don't comply
• Alternative methods to look at, why don't people comply how to make it easier to comply
• What new initiatives does the IRS have to increase compliance through education and outreach.
• How to get public input: Is there any talking points or outline about what TAP is? (Power point presentation is being worked on by Joint Committee)
• Outreach
• Possibility that there is a geographical problem that is more prevalent for this topic

Closing/Assessment

• Good meeting, no suggestions
• Limit meeting to one hour
• Off to a good start but make meetings shorter