The report, available on www.improveirs.org, summarizes the panel's accomplishments in 2007 including 59 new recommendations the panel provided to the IRS. It also includes a five-year retrospective on panel activities and an update on the status of more than 300 recommendations made since TAP's inception in 2002.

TAP's seven Area Committees, which represent distinct geographic regions, have the primary objective to identify and elevate grassroots issues brought to the committees' attention by taxpayers. In 2007, the committees generated 19 recommendations for IRS consideration and also received favorable responses to recommendations forwarded to the IRS in prior years. These included recommendations for the IRS to:

• Revise Form 1127, Application for Extension of Time for Payment of Tax , which has not been revised since 1993, to update where to file the form and the appropriate function and position titles of the approver;
• Provide clearer instructions on the classification and reporting of income from a litigation settlement resulting from securities class action suits;
• Help reduce the rejections of e-filed returns due to social security number and name control mismatches on electronically filed returns of taxpayers with multiple last names; 
• Revise the instructions for Form 8300, Report of Cash Payments Over $10,000 Received in a Trade or Business, to improve clarity and consistency; and
• Assist taxpayers in obtaining forms and publications during the filing season by providing basic information on how to obtain them at sites where taxpayers might ordinarily go to find them.

TAP Issue Committees work directly with IRS business units by providing taxpayer input to improve particular programs such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, Taxpayer Assistance Centers, Notice Simplification, Tax Forms and Publications, Multilingual Strategy Initiatives, and Taxpayer Burden Reduction. During 2007, TAP Issue Committees made 40 recommendations to improve IRS programs, and responded to several direct requests for input that involved:

• Reviewing the 2007 instructions for Form 1040, Individual Income Tax Return;
• Providing input to IRS on issues faced by taxpayers filing Schedule C; 
• Reviewing numerous IRS notices and publications for readability and usability;
• Specific recommendations to improve the electronic filing process throughout the Volunteer Return Preparation Program;
• Recommendations to improve services to the visually-impaired; and
• Conducting surveys to assess the customer service experience from both sides of the counter in IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers across the nation.

During the year, TAP members listened to taxpayers in communities across the country to learn what they had to say about the IRS and urged them to "Speak Up" and share their ideas for improving IRS services and customer satisfaction. TAP also hosted three public Town Hall Meetings moderated by Nina E. Olson, the National Taxpayer Advocate, to gain direct input from taxpayers on how they would like to receive services from the IRS.