May 11, 2016
IRS Practitioner Liaison Meeting Birmingham, AL 9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Attendees:
- Craig Crews, Mid-South Area Manager, IRS
- Nora Huffman, Senior Stakeholder Liaison, IRS
- Brian Kubas, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) Special Agent, IRS
- Brian Canty, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) Special Agent, IRS
- Clifford Whitely, Supervisory Appeals Officer, IRS
- Beverly Thompson, Local Alabama Taxpayer Advocate, IRS
- Kelly Farris, Senior Program Analyst, TAS, IRS
- Lawrence Mitchell, Sr., Individual Tax Advisory Specialist Supervisor, IRS
- Newasso Hemmen, Supervisory Exam Revenue Agent, IRS
- Lakanjala Roberts, Revenue Examiner, Alabama Department of Revenue
- Greg Cook, Alabama Society of Enrolled Agents
- Reggie Wright, Alabama Society of Enrolled Agents
- Bill Ryan, Alabama Society of Enrolled Agents
- Eva Hobson, Birmingham Chapter of the Alabama Association of Accountants
- Malcolm Hall, Alabama Chapter of NATP
- D. Boyd Busby, Executive Director, Alabama State Board of Public Accountancy
- Deryck Ferrier, NATP
- Tom Zoebelein, Alabama Society of CPAs
- Ann Jones, Alabama Association of Accountants
Meeting Summary
Nora Huffman, Senior Stakeholder Liaison
Nora Huffman opened the meeting and welcomed everyone.
Craig Crews, Area Manager
Thanked everyone for coming. Craig discussed the current scam alerts facing taxpayers. He provided his contact information and encouraged attendees to contact either him or Nora with any concerns.
Newasso Hemmen, Revenue Agent Supervisor
Newasso provided Examination Division updates. The Gulf States Area will have a new Acting Territory Manager soon. The PLM Council will be advised once a name is received. Exam’s Priorities for FY16 include the following:
- Fighting Abusive Tax Schemes (There were 71 injunctions in 2014 and 60 injunctions in 2015)
- Addressing the increase in flow through returns (Service-wide partnership strategy to identify important issues, additional revenue agent training)
- National Research Program (NRP) is still in place and 1040s for 2014 are rolling out now.
- Addressing/Assisting Taxpayers who have been victimized through ID Theft
- Promoting Fast Track Settlement through Appeals
Beverly Thompson, Alabama Taxpayer Advocate and Kelly Farris, TAS Senior Management Analyst
Beverly introduced herself, though most individuals present were familiar with our Local Taxpayer Advocate. She provided a folder with handouts. Alabama TAS received 1,554 cases in FY 15 and 692 FY 16 YTD. The top four primary issue codes received in Alabama this year are Identity Theft, Refund Holds-Income/Return Integrity, Revenue Protection Audits (EITC), and Unpostable Transactions/Returns.
Beverly also discussed the ability for practitioners to input systemic issues in Systemic Advocacy Management System (SAMS). Lastly, she provided the contact information for their intake advocate: Phone: (205) 912-5631; Fax: 855-822-2207. They do receive assistance from other offices because of their heavy workload, but the quality of service should be the same. Form 911 is the form used for submission.
Lawrence Mitchell, Sr., Individual Tax Advisory Specialist Supervisor, IRS
Lawrence provided an update regarding Taxpayer Assistance Center appointments in the Birmingham POD. He reports that the Birmingham Office has seen positive results and hasn’t received any major complaints. The toll free phone number for appointments in the Birmingham, Florence or Mobile Offices is (844)545-5640. He also stated that there are four kiosks in the Birmingham Office for self-service access to publications and return preparation.
The get transcript service is scheduled to be back up soon. Users will be unable to use Pay As You Go Phones or SKYPE.
Jacqueline Perry is the Acting TM for Wage and Investment. She is located in the Montgomery, AL Office.
Lakanjala Roberts, Revenue Examiner, Alabama Department of Revenue (ADOR)
Lakanjala provided the following updates/key messages from the Department of Revenue:
- There is a survey on the Alabama Department of Revenue website about recommended changes. They are encouraging users to fill out the survey and make suggestions for the revision.
- Use of the My Alabama Taxes (MAT) System is being encouraged for all State transactions. My Alabama Taxes (MAT) is the convenient and secure way to interact with the Alabama Department of Revenue to access a variety of online services. In MAT you can file tax returns, make payments, view letters, manage your accounts, and conduct other common transactions with the Department. Having a letter ID allows the user to use the system without being a registered MAT user. Users will now be required to use MAT to get W-2 information if they filed a return. Requests for W-2s outside of the MAT system will require a $15.00 fee. They are moving toward ATLAS
- The certificate of compliance replaces the certificate of good standing.
- An amnesty program is coming, but details have not yet been provided.
Clifford Whitely, Supervisory Appeals Officer, IRS
Clifford took a survey of the audience to see who had worked with the Office of Appeals before. The majority of the attendees had. He emphasized that they are called Appeals Officers, rather than Settlement Officers and the Alabama Office covers cases from Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Clifford discussed the Appeals process. He says the first thing they look at is to see if the Appeal is made timely. He also cautioned preparers and taxpayers to be prepared and to have the required documentation when the Appeal is filed.
Clifford also discussed the “New Appeals Strategy”. The Appeals Judicial Approach and Culture (AJAC) project was started in 2012 to ensure the policies and practices of the Office of Appeals (Appeals) are consistent with its mission. The role of Appeals is to settle disputes on a fair and impartial basis that favors neither the government nor the taxpayer. Appeals should not perform compliance actions. Rather, Appeals’ role is to attempt to settle a case after IRS compliance functions (which include Accounts Management, Collection, and Examination) have made a determination to which the taxpayer does not agree. When new information is introduced, the information is returned to the original agent for further investigation.
Brian Kubas and Brian Canty, TIGTA
Brian and Brian were not originally on the agenda, but they both happened to be in the office the day of the meeting. They had received SL’s invite and decided to attend. They provided an overview of what TIGTA is and what they do. Attendees were provided a handout outlining when TIGTA should be contacted. When the following are suspected, TIGTA should be contacted:
- Assaults/Threats – Suicide Threats
- Employee Misconduct/Employee Violence
- Theft-Fraud
- 1203 Issues – Other Complaints Regarding Employee Misconduct
- (UNAX) Unauthorized Access to IDRS or Tax Records
- Unauthorized Disclosure of Tax Information
- Impersonations
- Criminal Misconduct by Tax Practitioners
- Bribery
They talked about the current scams and how the IRS is addressing them. Currently, scammers are requiring taxpayers to load payments onto iTunes Cards. Once we find the vehicle they use, the manufacturers/dealers usually work with the IRS to combat the fraud. They concluded by saying that if a problem is tax return related, the IRS should be contacted, not TIGTA.
Nora Huffman, Senior Stakeholder Liaison, IRS
Nora thanked everyone for their patience and understanding during the budget problems and the organizational changes the IRS has experienced. Nora briefly covered handouts: Mid-South Area IMRS Updates Third Tuesday Cal. IMRS captures significant national and local issues or concerns about IRS policies, practices and procedures. The call lasts 30 minutes and SL is requesting that at least one member from each practitioner organization be present. The calls resume this coming Tuesday, May 17 at 9:00 a.m. after a break for tax season.
Nora then opened way for the roundtable introduction where everyone introduced themselves and shared the organization they were representing. This was a first meeting for the new Executive Director of the Alabama State Board of Public Accountancy, D. Boyd Busby. Nora thanked everyone for their time and attendance.
Issues & Status
No significant issues were raised during this meeting, but a good product development idea was presented by Reggie Wright of ALSEA , who suggested a Public Service Announcement with some skits to warn taxpayers of the scams that are out there.
Roundtable & Comments
Everyone introduced themselves and provided a little background during the start of the meeting.
Next Scheduled Meeting
Wednesday, October 19, 2016 from 9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. via Web Conference
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