January 7, 2003

The SBSE Fair Compliance (Schedule C Non-Filers) Committee met via teleconference on Tuesday, January 7, 2002.

Members in Attendance:

• Patrick Castleberry, Edmond OK
• Walter Fish, Bellmore, NY
• Chris Forzano, Vancouver, WA
• Richard Greenberg, Hinsdale, IL
• Edward Hanna, Tampa, FL
• Karen Kerrigan, Vienna VA
• Manning Mosley, Wayne, PA
• Paul Nagel, Chair, Glen Cove, NY
• Owen Oatley, Holly Hill, FL
• Harvey Schiff, Florence, SC
• Mary O'Brien, Designated Federal Official
• Teresa Smedley, Salem, IN
• Bob Taylor, Pittsburgh, PA
• Charles Taylor, Lancaster, CA

Other Attendees:

• Michael Sollitto, Program Owner
• Susan Leatherman, Program Owner
• Margie Kinney, Chief of Special Projects
• Judi Nicholas, TAP Program Manager
• Marla Ofilas, Note taker

Attachments
Four attachments were sent via email to the panel prior to the conference call.

• An IRS dedicated to Small Businesses and the Self-Employed
• FTD-EFTPS Notice Stuffer Pilot
• Taxpayer Education and Communication Partnership Outreach Mission and Overview
• Major Outreach Products

Roll Call
Mary took roll call of all panel members and program owners.

Welcome/Announcements/Review Agenda
Paul Nagel opened the business meeting. Paul welcomed all members and verified if all members received the agenda sent by Mary Peterson.

Discussion/Decision: Panel members who either didn't receive the agenda or unable to access their agenda should contact Mary O'Brien at least one hour before the conference call.

Review/Approve Minutes
Panel members reviewed the minutes from December 10th and provided corrections. Sue Leatherman wanted corrections made to her comment regarding the IRS Amnesty Program. The IRS does not plain in making it an all year program.

Report on Joint Committee Meeting
Ed Hanna gave a brief review of the Joint Committee Meeting.

• The panel will not be receiving Travel Cards.
• He reminded the panel members, before traveling for TAP, to get approval from your analyst and
• To fill out a Speaker Report. The speaker or panel member that performs an outreach will need to complete the report part of the form. The form is used for tracking the different types of outreach and should be used even if there are no expenses to approve.
• Phone cards for the panel will be sent out by the end of January

Discuss Possible Area Report Outs
Paul asked the panel members if the Issue committee members should share what's going on in their Area committee. Mary suggested that the TAP website is available to review of the Area Committee minutes.

Parking Lot: Paul felt this is an issue that could be discussed at a later time and would like to put it on hold.

Housekeeping Items - Travel
Mary discussed when the panel decides to have a meeting, they need to put together a business case to explain why it is important for the committee to meet face-to-face. The TAP budget is limited and to save cost a city in which a panel member resides in should be considered as a host city.

The committee members worked together to come up with a business case for their meeting that will be held in Chicago in May.

• There has been new members added to the issue committee and once the members have met face-to-face, the teleconference would be enhanced.
• Richard Greenberg current resides in Illinois, which would make Chicago a host city.

Decision: The Committee has decided that it would be cost effective if they met on the 3rd and 4th of May in Washington D.C in conjunction with the Joint Committee meeting on May 2nd and 3rd. There will be 4 committee members that would be attending the Joint committee meeting and this would save the TAP panel on airfare cost.

Mike Solitto and Sue Leatherman agreed that this would work for them but Michael Chessman and Margie Kinney may not be available to attend.

Action: Mary will seek approval for this meeting.

Overview of Committee Focus
Mike Solitto reviewed the scope of the issue committee:

• Filling Requirements
• To Educate the taxpayers
• Simplify the payment requirements

Mike reminded the committee members that if an issue requires legislation, it may not be guaranteed unless it is an administration issue, and to stay with in scope of the issue.

The idea of "amnesty" for those taxpayers who haven't filed a Schedule C and want to start filing was discussed as an avenue that this issue committee might want to pursue. The taxpayer would be assured that they would not be prosecuted and or perhaps reductions of penalties.

FACA Requirements Sub-Committees
Mary reviewed the FACA requirements for sub-committee meetings with the members. She explained that it was not necessary to have the sub-committee meetings posted on the federal register. The sub-committee members may have meetings as long as the sub-committees gave a "report out" and that all final decisions are made during an Issue Committee meetings posted on the Federal Register.

Discuss Possible Sub-Committees
Paul discussed what the goals of a sub-committee should be:

• Define the problem
• Brainstorm probable causes or barriers
• Develop possible solution

Mary defined role of sub-committees. After a sub committee defines the problem, brainstorm barriers and possible solutions, each sub-committee will develop a strategy to gather information and public input to make recommendations to the IRS. Some of these methods could be:

• Obtain more information/data from the IRS
• Develop a set of questions to gather consistent input from the public an/or target focus groups
• Research old and new legislation

Mary also wanted the committee to decide how many committee members will populate a sub-committee. The committee agreed that 3 or 4 persons will serve on each sub-committee and all agreed to participate in at least one sub-committee.

Decision: The committee would start out with three sub-committees:

• Filing Requirements - Make a recommendation to the IRS as to the requirements to file small business returns.
• Information and Education - Make recommendations to the IRS to improve education to decrease the number of non-filers
• Simplification of Estimated Tax Payments - Make recommendations to the IRS on ways to decrease the burden of making Estimated Tax Payments and decrease the percentage of non-filers.

Action: All committee members will email Mary with their sub-committee selection they would like to work on.

Next Steps
Sub Committees will be populated and arrange a meeting time before the next conference call for the Issue Committee.

Public Input
Paul opened this portion of the meeting for public comments. No public comments were made.

Closing/Assessment
Paul closed by soliciting for comments and suggestions from the program owners and panel members.

Action: Pat Castleberry would like the written analysis of the SBSE Compliance (Schedule C Non-Filers) that was produced and handed out during the orientation in October.

Action: Mary wanted the committee to set a time frame for the members to submit their sub-committee selections and to meet as a sub-committee. The members agreed to email Mary their selections by Monday January 13th and meet via teleconference before January 31st. All sub-committees will report during the next committee call scheduled for February 11th, 2003.

Meeting Adjourned