Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP)
Area 3 Committee
Meeting Minutes
April 12, 2010

Members in Attendance
Justin Axelrod
Karie Davis-Nozemack
Luis Fuentes
Herbert Hayes
Louis Kapugi
Susan Lynn
Eboni Moss
Sue Tatum
Tommy Thompson

Members Absent
Charles Armstrong
Susan DaCorte
Randee Head
Elizabeth Mossad
Miya Burt-Stewart

Staff in Attendance
Anita Fields, TAP Secretary
Donna Powers, TAP Program Analyst
Nancy Ferree, Acting DFO

Welcome/Announcements
Lou Kapugi started the meeting by welcoming Donna and thanking Sallie. He also welcomed everyone else and our guest to the meeting.

Roll Call
Quorum was met.

Introductions of Guests
Diedre Jackson
Verdina Bingham
Katheryn Boyette

Review Meeting Minutes
Meeting minutes from March were approved by consensus.

Review of Joint Committee Meeting
Tommy Thompson gave an overview of the Joint Committee Meeting. Thompson shared that they congratulated Shawn Collins as the new TAP Director. Cheryl Morse is working on the strategic plans task force and we will all be getting emails on that. In the TIGTA report there were questions regarding elevated issues. In December an issue, tracking task force was appointed and Judi Nicholas is heading that up. Susan DaCorte is heading up the 2009 Annual Report. Recruitment is underway right now. The JC reviewed a couple of Project Committee reports.

Screening Committee Report
Issue 16971, Amended Return Forms— There are multiple forms available for requesting a refund of taxes paid for previously filed returns that need amending. Some of the forms, such as 1139, must be filed within a certain amount of time or it is rejected and the taxpayer must re-file for the refund on a different form. I think the IRS should simplify the amended return filing by reducing the number of forms and make it easier for the taxpayer.

The screening committee reviewed this issue and recommend working this issue. They want to recommend simplifying the form.

The committee agreed by consensus to work this issue, the subcommittee assigned is Sue Tatum, Louis Kapugi and Tommy Thompson. Sue Tatum is the lead.

Issue 16792, Health Insurance Deductions for Sub Chapter S—this issue related to how you report health insurance deductions for a Sub Chapter S owner, someone who owns more than 2% of a Sub Chapter S Corporation. This issue is going to need a lot of research and a little more high tech and we need some people that have tax preparation experience.

The screening committee reviewed this issue and recommend working the issue. The committee agreed by consensus to work this issue, the subcommittee assigned is Susan DaCorte, Justin Axelrod, Susan Lynn and Eboni Moss. Moss is the lead.

Issue 17102, Form 5472 Attachments—This issue is related to form 5472. This form has to be filed with a corporation with foreign owners. The issue is that you have to file this form with two different locations. To reduce taxpayer burden we want to recommend filing the form at one IRS office instead of two different offices.

The screening committee reviewed this issue and recommend working.

The committee agreed by consensus to work this issue. The subcommittee consists of Luis Fuentes, Karie Davis-Nozemack, and Tommy Thompson. Davis-Nozemack is the lead.

Issue 17103, Change of Address for CAF# --Central Authorization File (CAF#), this number is assigned to tax preparer and filing a power of attorney for your client the IRS identify you by your CAF#.

The screening subcommittee reviewed this issue and recommend working. They feel there is not an easy way to inform the CAF# office of all the POA forms you have when you change your address.

The committee agreed by consensus to work this issue. The subcommittee consists of Herbert Hayes and Sue Tatum. Hayes is the lead.

Issue 17122, E-file Difficulties for Americans Living Abroad—This issue consist of a retired service-member could not e-file his return, because he did not have an U.S. address. Two people checked with different software and they both allow you to file with a foreign address.

Donna Powers have contact information and will send him a copy of the Publication 54, Tax Guide for US Citizens and Resident Aliens.

The screening subcommittee reviewed this issue and recommends not working, because it was an error on his part or checks the wrong box when completing the form.

The committee agreed by consensus not to work this issue.

Issue 17144, TAS Criteria—A taxpayer said that because he has an IRS exam and he received an incorrect assessment. He feels that if you get an incorrect assessment from an exam, it should be an automatic qualification to get into TAS. He has to call TAS 3 different times before he case was accepted. He feels that if you received an incorrect assessment after an examination that should be an automatic case for TAS.

It was conversation regarding this issue, it was determined that this is not an issue, because TAS has a certain criteria and before a case is taken TAS tries to let the normal processes take place.

The committee agreed by consensus not to work this issue.

Subcommittee Reports
Issue 16589 (old Issue 5499)—Phone # on Notice 3172 Not Correct—Susan Lynn reported that they are still waiting on the TAP staff to contact the IRS. Lynn stated this issue is directly related to Issue 5498 that the committee has not closed out. They are similar issue and they came from the same suggestion that came from someone last year. The committee needs to speak to the IRS employee that wrote the reply for Issue 5498 before they can go on with Issue 16589. Lynn said that if it is imperative to close out this old issue to get the Annual Report complete, she is willing to close out the old issue and keep the new one alive. She said that before the committee can go any further they need to speak to person who responded to the old issue.

Issue 16596 (old Issue 5849)—Erroneous Information from IRS Employees— Powers reported that another area is working on a similar issue issue. Powers asked if Area 1 wanted to combine and work together and they did not want to combine with Area 3. Liz Mossad and Powers discussed that this issue can be expanded in a different area and go in a different direction. Powers contacted the subcommittee to see if they wanted to drop or go in the different direction. She have not heard back as of yet. Justin Axelrod and Sue Tatum confirmed that they decided to continue to work the issue.

Issue 16597 (old Issue 5896)—Deceased Taxpayer Information—Powers said that the subcommittee have not worked on this issue yet and Susan DaCorte needs another month to gather information.

Issue 16598 (old Issue 5899)—Virtual world Goods—Justin Axelrod reported that this issue is almost complete, he just needs to get with his subcommittee to ensure everyone is on the same page. He said it should be ready by the face-to-face meeting.

Issue 16595 (old Issue 5839)—Form for Change of Business Name—Susan Lynn reported the issue is written-up and it is now in Quality Review. The subcommittee received changes from the quality review subcommittee and she feels that the quality review should get together with their changes and only send one document. Lynn stated the issue is ready to go to Joint Committee once they get the final quality review document back.

IRS Responses
Issue 309-5831, TIN Mismatch—Lynn stated that this issue should not have been rejected. The person that reviewed totally misunderstood the issue and did not address it properly. Nancy Ferree will speak with Shawn Collins to see if we can speak to and IRS liaison to discuss this further.

Issue 309-5498, Phone Prompt Doesn’t Have Proper Options—The IRS responded stating that they were not going to change the prompts. The committee agreed by consensus to close-proposal rejected.

Outreach
Powers reported 381 outreaches for last month to reach a total audience 351,230 people. There was a lot of recruiting ads that went out and some media things that contributed to these totals. Good job on the outreach. Powers stated to continue to talk about recruiting. Powers also mentioned that Area 3 has two Tax Forums coming up, one in Atlanta and one in Orlando. We need a couple of members to help with those.

Face-to-Face Meeting
Anita Fields stated that she sent out the travel request forms this morning and encouraging everyone to get them in as soon as possible. She also reminded that the members will be staying and meeting at the New Orleans Marriot May 19-21.

Citizen Input
Diedra Jackson asked if she can attend the meeting in New Orleans. Ferree informed that they are open meetings and we encourage people to attend.

Collins shared that she enjoyed the meeting and she will be attending more. She also thanked everyone for the work they are doing.

Meeting Close
Kapugi closed the meeting and thanked everyone for attending.

Next Meeting is a face to face in New Orleans May19-21, 2010.