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CITIZEN ADVOCACY PANEL (CAP) Brooklyn District Meeting Minutes Date: June 7, 2000 Time: 7:30-9:30 PM Location: Flushing Public Library, 41-17 Main Street, Flushing, NY 11355 Panel Members Attending:
IRS Staff Attending :
Absentees:
Public Attendees:
Opening Chairperson Montes opened the meeting at 7:40 PM and welcomed everyone with an introductory speech. He explained the background to the formation of the four CAPs and how the panel members were selected. He stressed that the CAP is comprised of private citizens and not IRS employees. He also touched upon the IRS reinvention efforts and how the CAPs will play an important part in that process. Chairperson then let the panel introduce themselves, starting with Anthony Fandozzi. Panel member Fandozzi - Resides in Suffolk County. He currently works as a consultant after retiring as a customer service manager for a major public utility. He is also a founding member of the Commack Postal Customer Service Advisory Committee. Panel member Richards - Resident of Queens for most of her life. She worked many years as a bookkeeper and a tax preparer. She currently is an elementary school teacher. She had dedicated most of her CAP efforts focusing on small business education in order to help the small businessperson avoid the pitfalls of failing to fulfill their tax obligations. Panel member Mihovich - Lives in Brooklyn but was raised in Astoria. He stated he was on the working committee for the kiosk installed upstairs. The kiosk currently provides answers to tax questions in English and Spanish but soon will be available in Korean, Russian, and Mandarin Chinese for this community. Taxpayer Advocate Bailey - Is the local Taxpayer Advocate for the district and is also the designated federal official on the CAP, serving as their link to the IRS. She then explained how the Taxpayer Advocate Service evolved from the Problem Resolution Office and how the TAS assists taxpayers that have a problem with the IRS and have not been able to get it resolved within the appropriate time frames. Any cases that are referred to the CAP dealing with individual taxpayer problems are sent to the TAS to insure they get the proper treatment. Panel member Maher - Lives in Suffolk County and is a small business owner. He is the Vice-Chair of the panel and provides input to the Panel on business issues. Panel member Greenberg - Stated she is a resident of Brooklyn and a retired CPA and tax practitioner. She enjoys working for taxpayers that can't afford the kind of practice she had and is proud to be a member of a panel that gives voice to citizens’ concerns. Panel Member Nahikian - Stated she is a resident of Brooklyn but works in Queens as the Executive Director of the Queens County Economic Development Corporation which works with business owners and entrepreneurs in Queens. She believes the IRS is the one Government agency that touches people's lives more dramatically that others. Panel member Kahn - Represents Nassau County and graduated and practiced as a chemical engineer. He spent most of his career as founder and CEO of a small hardware and houseware firm servicing major supermarket chains. He is currently concentrating on recommending changes to complicated tax forms that need to be simplified. He stressed that CAP members are not IRS employees but independent citizens trying to make IRS more agreeable to the needs of taxpayers. Panel member Cintrón - Stated that she is the newest member of the Panel, being appointed in March of this year. She advised that she works for the New York State Tax Department attempting to make changes at a state level. She hopes to make changes on a national level by being a member of CAP. Panel Member Aiken- He stated he is Chief Financial Officer of the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation and has served on the Panel for approximately one year. He looks forward to hearing the audience's concerns. Chairperson Montes - He stated he is a vice-president and team leader and is responsible for commercial lending in Nassau County for Banco Popular. He publicly thanked the Panel members for all the work they have done since inception. He also introduced and thanked District Director Ellen Murphy, Senior Analyst George Deller, for the cooperation and support they have provided. He then introduced and thanked the CAP Staff – Eileen Cain, Jim McGurn, Gita Hecht, and Leonides Rivera. He stated that Panel member Cintrón would provide an introduction in Spanish followed by introductions in Cantonese, Mandarin, and Korean and that these interpreters would be available throughout the evening. Public Comments Chairperson laid down the ground rules for the rest of the meeting and asked for the first speaker. Speaker 1 She wanted to know how long IRS would keep a tax debt on the books and what happens if a person cannot pay the debt. Taxpayer Advocate replied by stating that the IRS offers an installment agreement over time, can place the account in an un-collectable status, or consider an Offer in Compromise. If the debt is not collected for a period of 10 years the debt cannot be collected by statute. Speaker 2 He stated his preparer incorrectly placed his sister as a dependent on his tax return. When he realized this was in error he visited the IRS to correct his return but was advised he could not. Now he is being assessed by the IRS and needs assistance. Taxpayer Advocate Bailey advised that he should speak to a member of her staff before he leaves who will work with him to get the problem resolved. Speaker 3 The speaker asked to explain the difference between the Citizen Advocacy Panel and the Taxpayer Advocate Service. Chairperson Montes explained that the Panel members are not employees of the IRS but private citizens who volunteered to listen to taxpayer concerns and elevate them to the proper channels. Taxpayer Advocate Bailey explained that her group is comprised of IRS employees but have the authority to act independently to resolve taxpayers' problems. The speaker then asked if the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance and the Tax Counseling for the Elderly programs are available in Queens for the Asian community. The Panel directed the question to District Director Murphy who replied that these programs are available during the filing season and that this year a tax preparation site was available in Queens and was staffed by the Chinese Immigrants Association. Volunteers for next years filing season are needed. Speaker 4 She addressed the Panel on a situation that occurred to her twenty years ago. The IRS disallowed a medical deduction taken for her child who needed special milk and proceeded to levy their bank accounts and placed them in a very difficult situation leaving them without funds for food and living expenses. She wanted to know what the Panel would do to correct this abuse. Taxpayer Advocate Bailey explained that today taxpayers are given rights to appeal any action by the IRS, including examination assessments and collection actions. Panel member Nahikian stated that the Taxpayer Advocate is also available to assist in these situations. Chairperson Montes advised that a taxpayer could also contact the CAP to seek assistance. The speaker also addressed the problem of employers who withhold taxes but fail to report the withholding to IRS and send the W'2 to the employee. Taxpayer Advocate Bailey and District Director Murphy advised that in these situations taxpayers should keep records to show what they were paid. If they do not receive a statement from the employer at the end of the year they can visit the IRS who will prepare a substitute W'2 for the taxpayer to ensure the taxpayer receives proper credit for withholding. Panel member Cintrón encouraged taxpayers to report these employer abuses to IRS and NYS so that they can take proper action to collect these amounts from the employer. Speaker 5 He spoke about a problem a friend is having. Someone has been using her social security number and as a result IRS has assessed her an additional $38,000.00. What can she do? Taxpayer Advocate Bailey advised to have her get in touch with her office which will review the situation and separate the income from this taxpayer so that she will not owe any additional liability Speaker 6 She spoke about a problem she has had since filing her 1995 tax return. The IRS denied the exemptions for her children. IRS as a result has disallowed her exemptions for every year since then. She has attempted to resolve the problem since then by sending in the requested information as requested but she still has not had the problem corrected. Taxpayer Advocate Bailey requested she meet with a member of the CAP staff before leaving. They will work with her until her problem is resolved. Speaker 7 He stated he has an installment plan with the IRS but does not know his current balance. He wanted to know why he does not receive statements. Taxpayer Advocate Bailey requested he meet with a member of the CAP staff before leaving in order to resolve his problem. Speaker 8 He stated he used a tax preparer to file his individual returns. He had incorporated his business and used the same preparer to handle his tax filings. He then needed to leave the country and when he returned he discovered the IRS had made adjustments to his returns assessing him balances. He has since resolved the matter with IRS but wanted to warn the audience to be careful of who they choose to prepare returns. He also wanted to direction as to how he should proceed now. Taxpayer Bailey advised him that the IRS offers small business workshops to assist new business owners with their tax responsibilities. Panel member Nahikian also advised that the Queens County Economic Development Corporation also offer workshops in Spanish. Speaker 9 She stated that her and her deceased husband had invested in a tax shelter. The IRS later denied the deductions. She has been making payments on the Liability but would like to fully resolve the liability within reason. Taxpayer Advocate Bailey requested she meet with a member of the CAP staff before leaving in order review various options that may be available for her. Speaker 10 The speaker addressed an issue he is having with immigration. His employer, who is his sponsor, has been paying and reporting to IRS his and other employees salaries but reports the company income at an amount much less then what he pays in salaries. In reviewing his VISA status immigration has requested he provide him with company income information. His employer refuses to provide this information and he is afraid of losing his work visa. He believes his employer is about to change the name of the company and open as a new business. He believes he has done this several times in the past. He wants to know why the IRS allows this activity. District Director Murphy ad vised that IRS does audit issues such as these but does not have resources to increase this activity. She advised the speaker to give the information to Taxpayer Advocate Bailey. Panel member Nahikian advised the speaker to engage a immigration advocate. Speaker 11 Speaker wanted to know how he could get a tax form this time of year. Panel member Mihovic advised the speaker that the kiosk upstairs provides tax forms or call the tax form number for IRS listed in the phone directory. Adjournment Chairperson stated that the end of the meeting was at hand and that if individuals would like to speak to a member of the panel personally to come up. Those taxpayers who brought individual problems forward should see Taxpayer Advocate Bailey. He then advised the audience the public can contact the CAP through the toll-free number, 1-888-912-1227 and the web site at www.improveirs.org. The meeting adjourned at 9:30 P.M. An official transcript of this meeting is available by contacting us at 1-888-912-1227 or by leaving us your name and address in the comments section of our WEB site. The Panel members accepted these minutes as amended on September 8, 2000.
I hereby certify that, to the best of my knowledge, the foregoing minutes are accurate and complete.
Jim Montes, Chairperson Brooklyn District Citizens Advocacy Panel |