Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is looking for new members

I was at FirstGov.gov looking for something else, and noticed an announcement asking for applications by April 28 for something called the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel:

Are you willing to serve your country and speak up on issues that impact taxpaying citizens nationwide? Are you aware of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issues in your community that are customer service or grassroots in nature and need to be addressed? A unique opportunity exists to influence how the IRS delivers services to the public by becoming a member of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP).

The TAP is a group of dedicated citizens who have volunteered to help the IRS identify ways to improve customer service and satisfaction. The Panel is a Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) group established under the authority of the Department of the Treasury and is composed of representatives from all States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

TAP is now accepting applications to fill member vacancies in the locations listed below...

It's a longish list, with qualifiers, so I'll let you go to the website to see if there's an opening for your part of the country. That's if you're interested, of course, and if you can meet the mandatory qualifications:

Be a citizen of the United States of America
Be current with all Federal tax obligations
Pass an FBI background check
Commit to serve a three-year appointment and devote approximately 300 to 500 volunteer hours per year to the Panel

Official recruitment page.

Applications may be made online.

So, now you know.

And, yes, now that you mention it, opening up applications from March 21 through April 28, neatly bracketing the federal tax deadline of April 15, strikes me as interesting timing. Gutsy, even. I'd hate to be the person screening some of the applicants who feel inspired to come forward just now, but luckily that's not my problem.