Taxpayer Advocacy Panel
Area 7 Committee
Meeting Minutes
February 17, 2010

Designated Federal Official
Dorthea (Dorry) Curran

Attendance
Lee Battershell
Richard Coonradt
Sandra (Sandy) Finestone
Gary Iskowitz
Sabby Jonathan
David Kahn
John Kim, Chair
Ming Ni (Minnie) Lau
Howard Levine
Patricia (Patti) O’Neill
John Rodgers (JR)
Richard (Rich) Waterman
Clifford (Cliff) Young

Staff
Judi Nicholas, TAP Manager
Janice Spinks, TAP Analyst
Nina Pang, TAP Analyst
Kymberly Axtell, TAP Secretary

Opening/Welcome/Announcements
Dorry opened the meeting and John welcomed the members. Kymberly took roll and a quorum was met.

Approval of December 2009 Annual Meeting Minutes
The meeting minutes were approved noting the following corrections;

• Correct the spelling of Minnie and Lee’s name

Joint Committee (JC) Report – Sabby Jonathan
John deferred to Sabby, TAP Chair to provide updates in relation to the JC.

Sabby provided the following information;

• This year’s TAP Annual Meeting is slated for the week of December 5th
• Sabby is working on a process to track database issues
• Staff is working on a strategic plan for TAP
• Recruitment will begin soon and Area 7 will have four vacancies to fill...members were encouraged to assist with recruitments efforts
• Sabby has asked Susan Gilbert (JC Analyst) to send out highlights of the JC meetings
• During last month’s meeting, there were no issues to review...Sabby will be making an appeal to the Area Committees to work on elevating issues
• They are working on streamlining the Quality Review (QR) process and will keep everyone up to date on the outcome

Taskforce Sub-committee Reports

Taskforce B – Lee Battershell, Lead
IRS Response on Elevated Issues

• Issue 5225 1099-G Income Reporting - Lee reported that Rich received a powerful letter in favor of the recommendation on this issue. As part of the response, the IRS has asked for input on the verbiage to be used in the documents. Rich is working with University Professors on providing verbiage to be incorporated on the documents.

DECISION: The Taskforce agreed with the closing code of “Closed, Proposal Accepted”.

• Issue 4639 Downloading F-1099 – Lee reported that the group reviewed the response and would like to go back to the IRS asking for an anticipated implementation date. Sabby has drafted a letter which he will send to the staff to be put on TAP letterhead. In light of this however, the group agreed to close the issue as “Closed Proposal Accepted”.

Judi indicated she is leading a team related to tracking IRS responses. They will be requesting that part of the response include an anticipated implementation date. The goal is to prevent having to always go back to the IRS requesting an implementation date.

Other Issues
5656 – Combined Annual Wage Reporting and 5882 – IRS Return Envelopes – The group will review these issues at their March meeting.

5601 – SS Benefits for Minors-Taxability - Janice will follow up with the Tax Forms and Publications analyst on the status of this issue

5556 – Correspondence Audits - Howard point out that according to Publication 1 taxpayers can request an interview with an auditor but it is not being done consistently. Gary pointed out additional information that was incorporated in the referral which he found in Nina Olsen’s Annual Report to Congress. Lee indicated the draft referral had been sent prior to the meeting for review. John suggested the referral be part of Area 7’s new QR process.

Gary suggested that a few members visit or have a conference call with campus managers to discuss the process.
DECISION: This suggestion will be discussed further before a final decision is made.

5483 – Treasury Regulations Number 1.1.33 (a) -2) (c) (3) - A draft referral was prepared and it was suggested (and agreed) that this be part of the Area 7 QR process as well.

Taskforce C- John Rodgers (JR), Lead
JR provided an update on the following issues;

• 5673 – Reporting State Refunds - They are deferring this issue until March; more information is being gathered
• 5880 – Payment Posting-Advice Given - This issue was originated by Charles Davidson and the group plans to send him a letter stating the outcome of their review...the letter will be sent via email
• 5279 – Retired on Disability Can’t E-file Returns - JR has done some research on this issue and they will continue to pursue the matter further
• 5744 – Form K-1-Erroneous CP 2000 Notices - This issue is being researched by the analyst and will be discussed at the March TF meeting

Taskforce A – Howard Levine, Lead
Howard provided an update on the following issues;

• They have two referrals ready for review/elevation; 5160 – E-Mail Addresses for Tax Examiners and 5558 – IRS Envelopes are Translucent...John suggested (and it was agreed) that they all go through the Area 7 QR process
• 5881 – CP 2000 Notice Minimal Amount - The group had agreed to drop this issue but the recommendation had not been approved by the committee.

DECISION: The committee agreed with the recommendation to drop this issue.

Area 7 Face to Face Meeting
Judi stated San Diego had the highest cost projections, followed by Cost Mesa and then Las Vegas. However, because the projections are so close, she will recommend San Diego. She will have Kymberly start looking for hotel locations. She has also been in communication with David Kahn regarding the use of his firm’s office to hold the meeting.

Before the call ended, David indicated his firm’s meeting space is available for the specified dates and has been tentatively reserved.

Review of Outreach – Sandy Finestone
There was no outreach information available for reporting. Patti will begin reporting on outreach activities at next month’s meeting.

Success Stories
Lee thanked Nina for her support and for providing all of the supplies she needed for her participation in the EITC event. Lee also stated that the local staff working at the event was very helpful and pleasant to work with.

Charles Davidson did a television interview, which will air in March.

John stated he was very impressed with all of the work Lee has been doing to support Area 7.

Area 7’s Quality Review (QR) Process
John stated the JC has requested that the Area Committees being doing more QR within the Area before issues are elevated for JC QR. John raised the following questions for the group to consider in deciding how to proceed.

• When would the Area 7 QR process begin...before the Taskforce meetings or after the Area meetings
• Who in the Area will be responsible for QR
• How much time will be allotted for the initial review

Following is the outcome of the aforementioned questions raised;

• The Taskforce groups will submit the JC Issue Referral Form to the Area with a recommendation to elevate
• Once the Area Committee agrees with the recommendation, the referral will be forwarded to the Area 7 QR Team, which will be led by Lee (assisted by JR)...other team members will be Patty (TF-A), Cliff (TF-B) and Minnie (TF-C)
• Once referrals are approved for elevation, the QR Lead will assign an issue to one of the QR Team members (from a different TF) for initial review; providing a five day turn around...the reviewer will then discuss/coordinate with a QR member from another TF; 3 additional workdays will be granted for further review
• If deemed necessary, a teleconference will be scheduled with the Lead of the originating TF and the Area 7 QR Team to discuss/resolve discrepancies...this group will determine if the referral needs to be addressed with the Area Committee
• Once the referral is perfected, the Area QR Leader will forward for JC Quality Review
• A QR checklist will be provided with each issue being reviewed

The referrals mentioned previously will all be put through this new process. Lee will assign them to the Area 7 QR Team and copy Janice.

Member Comments/Other Business
There was no other business to discuss. Dorry adjourned the meeting.