Lander, Riverton Wyoming TAP Presentations

I will be doing two TAP (Taxpayer Advocacy Panel) presentations on Friday, April 10.
The public is welcome!
TAP's Mission Statement:
The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel listens to taxpayers, identifies taxpayer's issues, and makes suggestions for improving IRS service and customer satisfaction.

TAP primarily focuses on Wage & Investment and Small Business/Self Employed issues.

The panel does not consider legislative issues nor do they assist with individual tax problems.

Special thanks to Carol at the Lander Chamber of Commerce for arranging a room at the library for me! She has been great to work with. A big thank you to the Lander Public Library for helping me with a room for the presentation. Special thanks to the Lander Journal for helping to get the word out to the public.

3pm - Riverton Public Library
Thanks to the Riverton Public Library for helping me with a room for the presentation. They are also going to help get the word out to all interested public. A big thank you to Keith at the Riverton Ranger for patience. We had several phone calls and email exchanges to get the correct information together for a small notice in the Riverton Ranger. (I love reading the Ranger when I go to Riverton!)

NOTICE: The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is currently recruiting Wyoming citizens to be TAP alternates. Fill in an application at www.improveirs.org for this service opportunity.

What is the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel?
The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is an advisory panel charged with providing direct taxpayer input to the Internal Revenue Service. Panel members provide a taxpayer perspective on critical tax administration programs and help to identify "grass roots" tax issues.

Return from Washington D.C.

I had a great time in Washington D.C. at the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP) meetings. I was gone from my home about 9 days.

I am honored, excited, and ready to serve as the Wyoming citizen advocate on the TAP panel, an internal advisory committee to the Internal Revenue Service. This position came from appointment by the Secretary of the Treasury. My goal is to let your voice be heard at the national level on tax issues that you have concerns about.

This is our way to help improve the I.R.S. I am available to travel and speak to Wyoming taxpayers as individuals or groups about how their voice can be heard.

Taxpayer Advocate for Wyoming

I got a call about two weeks ago inviting me to listen in on the area conference call of the Taxpayer Advocate Panel. I decided what the heck, I could listen in on a tele-conference since I had previously submitted my name for consideration on this volunteer panel, already committed to serve for 3 years if selected, had been interviewed, fingerprinted, emailed and investigated with a background check. It was interesting.

Wednesday I got a call from a lady (Taxpayer Advocate Panel Office??) saying that I had been selected to be Wyoming's sole representative on the Taxpayer Advocate Panel. We will have a week long training in Washington D.C. the first week of December. I believe I "start" in January.


I will type more what it means to be Wyoming's Taxpayer Advocate when I understand more. I have read the papers they sent me when this all started earlier this year. We don't try to change tax law, in fact I believe we need to stay away from that while we serve. We can just help with non-statutory (?) things like forms and word clarification as well as gathering citizen input and more. (At least that's my understanding)

You can click here to read my previous post on my interview and more for the TAP positions

Taxpayer Advocate Panel

Today I had an interview for the Taxpayer Advocate Panel (TAP). It was interesting. I had to call into a conference call at a certain time and there were three people there, waiting to interview me. They all asked different questions and posed scenarios to me and then I had to respond. We probably visited for about 40 minutes.

This is a volunteer position and they said they had 600 applicants for the 30 available slots. Wow. Who knew working as a volunteer with the IRS would be in such high demand?

So, I'll either get a letter saying "thanks but no thanks" and that will be the last cut I made it through or going on to the next step (FBI Check etc) by the end of the month. They said that we (applicants), if we make it through the final cuts, wouldn't be told final decisions until the end of October. Then, the official appointment is in the annual meeting in December held in Washington D.C.

update on 10/17/08 you can click here to read my blog post of what happens next

So, that's how volunteering for a position with the government works. Very interesting. (I found out about the citizen volunteer position opening on the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel in an e-newsletter I receive. After I read the information and found it interesting, I filled in the on-line application. Several months later I got a phone call setting up a conference call interview. That is the point I was at today and we'll see if I make it past the interview phase.)