The Treasury Department and the IRS Commissioner have approved the new members to serve a three-year term beginning November 2006 and ending November 2009.

The group serves as a public forum for discussion of electronic tax administration issues and supports the goal of increasing electronic interactions between tax professionals and the IRS.

“ETAAC supports the goal of electronic tax administration by recommending policies and strategies to encourage taxpayers to e-file their tax returns and to communicate electronically with the IRS. The members’ advice is critical to our continued progress,” explained Bert DuMars, director of IRS Electronic Tax Administration.

These new members will replace the recently retired members to ensure continuity of the committee. The new members are:

• Chris Beach, Director of Filing Methods Bureau for the State of California, Franchise Tax Board.
• Sharon S. Gray, Director of Balance Consulting, LLC, where she provides consulting to bank clientele.
• Timothy S. Hubbs, President and CEO of Drake Enterprises, Limited, a software provider to tax preparers for preparation and e-filing of tax returns.
• Joan R. Ruff, Assistant Vice President of Knowledge Development for H & R Block.
• Marquetta White, Assistant Director of Taxpayer Services for the Arizona Department of Revenue, in charge of the e-file program.

According to the IRS, Robert Meighan has agreed to serve as the chairman of Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee (ETAAC) for 2007. Meighan is vice president of the Consumer Tax Group (Turbo Tax) at Intuit and has been a member of ETAAC since September 2005.

ETAAC was created in 1998 as part of the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act. Each June, ETAAC submits an annual report to Congress on the progress of the IRS’s electronic tax initiatives.