82 FR 57524 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request for the IRS Taxpayer Burden Surveys
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Internal Revenue Service Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 232 (December 5, 2017)
Internal Revenue Service
Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 232 (December 5, 2017)
| Page Range | 57524-57526 | |
| FR Document | 2017-26117 |
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 232 (Tuesday, December 5, 2017)] [Notices] [Pages 57524-57526] From the Federal Register Online [www.thefederalregister.org] [FR Doc No: 2017-26117] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Internal Revenue Service Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request for the IRS Taxpayer Burden Surveys AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury. ACTION: Notice and request for comments. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Internal Revenue Service, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The IRS is soliciting comments concerning the 2016, 2017 and 2018 IRS Taxpayer Burden Surveys. DATES: Written comments should be received on or before February 5, 2018 to be assured of consideration. ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to L. Brimmer, Internal Revenue Service, Room 6526, 1111 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20224, or at [email protected]. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please send separate comments for each specific information collection listed below. You must reference the information collection's title, form number, reporting or record- keeping requirement number, and OMB number (if any) in your comment. Requests for additional information, or copies of the information collection and instructions, or copies of any comments received, contact Elaine Christophe, at (202) 317-5745, at Internal Revenue Service, Room 6526, 1111 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20224, or through the Internet, at [email protected]. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: IRS Taxpayer Burden Surveys. OMB Number: 1545-2212. Form Number: CS-11-276. Abstract: Each year, individual taxpayers in the United States submit more than 140 million tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The IRS uses the information in these returns, recorded on roughly one hundred distinct forms and supporting schedules, to administer a tax system whose rules span thousands of pages. Managing such a complex and broad-based tax system is costly but represents only a fraction of the total burden of the tax system. Equally, if not more burdensome, is the time and out-of-pocket expenses that taxpayers spend in order to comply with tax laws and regulations. The IRS has conducted prior surveys of individual taxpayers in 1984 (OMB 1545-0802), 1999 (OMB 1545-1688), 2000 (W&I taxpayers OMB 1545- 1688, Self-employed taxpayers OMB 1545-1740), 2007 (OMB 1545-1349), 2010 through 2015 (this OMB Control Number). CY2010 and CY2014 Taxpayer Compliance Burden Surveys were conducted under this OMB Control Number. The IRS has conducted Business Taxpayer Burden Survey for TY2009 (OMB 1545-1432) and TY2012 (this OMB Control Number). The IRS also conducted the TY2010 Tax Exempt Organization Burden Survey, and the CY2014 Business Compliance Burden Survey under this OMB Control Number. The purpose of the taxpayer burden surveys is to gather data that will be used to update and expand the IRS Taxpayer Burden Model, a robust predictive model based on an improved burden estimation methodology. Information gathered by the surveys is not available in the administrative tax return data, so survey data are a critical input to the model. The critical items on the surveys concern respondents' time and cost burden estimates for complying with tax filing requirement (or resolving a post-filing issue in the case of the Individual and Business Taxpayer Compliance Surveys). Additional items on the survey will serve as contextualizing variables for interpretation of the burden items. These items include information regarding tax preparation methods and activities, tax-related recordkeeping, gathering materials, learning about tax law, using IRS and/or non-IRS taxpayer services, and tax form completion. Changes in tax regulations, tax administration, tax preparation methods, and taxpayer behavior continue to alter the amount and distribution of taxpayer burden. Data from updated surveys will better reflect the current tax rules and regulations, the increased usage of tax preparation software, increased efficiency of such software, changes in tax preparation regulations, the increased use of electronic filing, the behavioral response of taxpayers to the tax system, the changing use of services, both IRS and external, and related information collection needs. [[Page 57525]] Current Actions: New surveys are being added to this collection. Surveys Covered Under This Clearance Request. Individual Taxpayers 2016 Individual Taxpayer Burden Survey 2017 Individual Taxpayer Burden Survey 2018 Taxpayer Compliance Burden Survey 2018 Individual Taxpayer Burden Survey Entity Taxpayers 2016 Business Taxpayer Burden Survey 2017 Tax-Exempt Organization Burden Survey 2018 Business Compliance Burden Survey Other 2017 Trust and Estate Burden Survey 2017 Employment Tax Burden Survey 2017 Information Return Burden Survey Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection. Affected Public: Individuals, Businesses, Tax-Exempt Organizations, Trusts and Estates. Each survey respondent will receive a letter inviting them to complete the survey which they may spend about one minute reading. Each potential respondent will participate only once. The potential response rate, which varies depending on the type of survey, is indicated in the burden estimate charts below. Estimated time to complete the surveys is based on results from prior cognitive interviews. We estimate that it will take approximately the same time to complete the mail, Web and phone versions of the questionnaire. The content included in each instrument will be the same. Prior to conducting a survey with a new taxpayer group, focus groups will be conducted with internal and external stakeholders during the survey instrument development phase to ensure that the instrument survey items cover the main burden drivers for that group. The total annual burden estimates for the covered surveys is as follows: TY 2016 Surveys 14,083.33 hours TY 2017 Surveys 29,497.53 hours TY 2018 Surveys 17,550.00 hours The estimated burden for each survey is itemized below: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Number of Frequency of Average time Annual hour Activity respondents response (minutes) burden ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TY2016 Individual Taxpayer Burden Survey ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reading prenote & reminder postcards............ 20,000 1 1 333.33 Survey Completion............................... 20,000 1 15 5,000 --------------------------------------------------------------- Total....................................... .............. .............. .............. 5,333.33 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TY2016 Business Taxpayer Burden Survey ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reading prenote & reminder postcards............ 25,000 1 1 416.67 Survey Completion............................... 25,000 1 20 8,333.33 --------------------------------------------------------------- Total....................................... .............. .............. .............. 8,750 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TY2017 Individual Taxpayer Burden Survey ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reading prenote & reminder postcards............ 25,000 1 1 416.67 Survey Completion............................... 25,000 1 15 6,250 --------------------------------------------------------------- Total....................................... .............. .............. .............. 6,666.67 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TY2017 Tax-Exempt Organization Burden Survey ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reading prenote & reminder postcards............ 25,000 1 1 416.67 Survey Completion............................... 25,000 1 15 6,250 --------------------------------------------------------------- Total....................................... .............. .............. .............. 6,666.67 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TY2017 Information Return Burden Survey ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reading prenote & reminder postcards............ 20,000 1 1 333.33 Survey Completion............................... 20,000 1 15 5,000 --------------------------------------------------------------- Total....................................... .............. .............. .............. 5,333.33 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TY2017 Trust and Estate Income Tax Burden Survey ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answering screener questions *.................. 60 1 1 1 Participating in the focus group *.............. 36 1 90 54 Cognitive Testing *............................. 36 1 60 36 Reading invitation letter & reminder postcards.. 20,000 1 1 333.33 Survey Completion............................... 20,000 1 15 5,000 --------------------------------------------------------------- Total....................................... .............. .............. .............. 5,424.33 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TY2017 Employment Tax Burden Survey ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reading prenote & reminder postcards............ 20,000 1 1 333.33 [[Page 57526]] Survey Completion............................... 20,000 1 15 5,000 --------------------------------------------------------------- Total....................................... .............. .............. .............. 5,333.33 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TY2018 Taxpayer Compliance Burden Survey Pre-Work (Conducted in 2017) ** ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answering screener questions.................... 64 1 3 3.2 Participating in the focus group................ 32 1 90 48 Answering screener questions.................... 40 1 3 2 Participating in the focus group................ 20 1 60 20 --------------------------------------------------------------- Total....................................... .............. .............. .............. 73.20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CY2018 Business Compliance Burden Survey ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reading prenote & reminder postcards............ 25,000 1 1 416.67 Survey Completion............................... 25,000 1 20 8,333.33 --------------------------------------------------------------- Total....................................... .............. .............. .............. 8,750 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TY2018 Individual Taxpayer Burden Survey ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reading prenote & reminder postcards............ 20,000 1 1 333.33 Survey Completion............................... 20,000 1 15 5,000 --------------------------------------------------------------- Total....................................... .............. .............. .............. 5,333.33 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CY2018 Taxpayer Compliance Burden Survey ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reading prenote & reminder postcards............ 13,000 1 1 216.67 Survey Completion............................... 13,000 1 15 3,250 --------------------------------------------------------------- Total....................................... .............. .............. .............. 3,466.67 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The annual burden cost to respondents is estimated to total $336,038 (14,083.33 hours x $23.86) for 2016, $70,811 (29,497.53 hours x $23.86) for 2017, and $418,743,968 (17,5500 hours x $23.86) for 2018. This estimate is derived using $23.86, the May 2016 average wage rate from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics Survey. * The TY2017 Trust and Estate Income Tax Burden Survey will be the first attempt to collect information from this taxpayer segment. To better inform the survey efforts and to ensure adequate feedback from relevant survey strata during the cognitive testing phase, we are requesting burden hours to conduct focus groups to inform survey instrument design and additional respondents for testing the draft survey instrument. ** This work will be conducted as part of the CY2018 Taxpayer Compliance Burden Survey data collection, but it will occur in 2017. The following paragraph applies to all of the collections of information covered by this notice: An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless the collection of information displays a valid OMB control number. Books or records relating to a collection of information must be retained as long as their contents may become material in the administration of any internal revenue law. Generally, tax returns and tax return information are confidential, as required by 26 U.S.C. 6103. Request for comments: Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized and/or included in our request for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval of the relevant information collection. All comments will become a matter of public record. Please do not include any confidential or inappropriate material in your comments. We invite comments on: (a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the agency's functions, including whether the information has practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology; and (e) estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of operation, maintenance, and purchase of services to provide the requested information. Approved: November 28, 2017. L. Brimmer, Senior Tax Analyst. [FR Doc. 2017-26117 Filed 12-4-17; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4830-01-P
![57524 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 232 / Tuesday, December 5, 2017 / Notices
regulations regarding the requirements Approved: November 29, 2017. based tax system is costly but represents
to qualify as a Type III supporting L. Brimmer, only a fraction of the total burden of the
organization that is operated in Senior Tax Analyst. tax system. Equally, if not more
connection with one or more supported [FR Doc. 2017–26115 Filed 12–4–17; 8:45 am] burdensome, is the time and out-of-
organizations. The regulations reflect BILLING CODE 4830–01–P
pocket expenses that taxpayers spend in
changes to the law made by the Pension order to comply with tax laws and
Protection Act of 2006. The regulations regulations.
will affect Type III supporting DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY The IRS has conducted prior surveys
organizations and their supported of individual taxpayers in 1984 (OMB
organizations. Internal Revenue Service 1545–0802), 1999 (OMB 1545–1688),
Current Actions: This information 2000 (W&I taxpayers OMB 1545–1688,
collection is being updated with TD Proposed Information Collection; Self-employed taxpayers OMB 1545–
9605. The paperwork burden previously Comment Request for the IRS 1740), 2007 (OMB 1545–1349), 2010
approved by OMB is also being updated. Taxpayer Burden Surveys through 2015 (this OMB Control
Number). CY2010 and CY2014 Taxpayer
Type of Review: Review of a currently AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS),
Compliance Burden Surveys were
approved collection. Treasury.
conducted under this OMB Control
Affected Public: Not-for-profit ACTION: Notice and request for
Number.
institutions, State, Local or Tribal comments. The IRS has conducted Business
Governments. Taxpayer Burden Survey for TY2009
SUMMARY: The Internal Revenue Service,
Estimated Number of Respondents: (OMB 1545–1432) and TY2012 (this
as part of its continuing effort to reduce
11,994. OMB Control Number). The IRS also
paperwork and respondent burden,
Estimated Time per Respondent: 2 invites the general public and other conducted the TY2010 Tax Exempt
hours. Federal agencies to take this Organization Burden Survey, and the
Estimated Total Annual Burden opportunity to comment on continuing CY2014 Business Compliance Burden
Hours: 23,988. information collections, as required by Survey under this OMB Control
The following paragraph applies to all the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. Number.
of the collections of information covered The purpose of the taxpayer burden
The IRS is soliciting comments
by this notice: surveys is to gather data that will be
concerning the 2016, 2017 and 2018 IRS
used to update and expand the IRS
An agency may not conduct or Taxpayer Burden Surveys.
Taxpayer Burden Model, a robust
sponsor, and a person is not required to DATES: Written comments should be predictive model based on an improved
respond to, a collection of information received on or before February 5, 2018 burden estimation methodology.
unless the collection of information to be assured of consideration. Information gathered by the surveys is
displays a valid OMB control number. ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments not available in the administrative tax
Books or records relating to a collection to L. Brimmer, Internal Revenue return data, so survey data are a critical
of information must be retained as long Service, Room 6526, 1111 Constitution input to the model.
as their contents may become material Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20224, or The critical items on the surveys
in the administration of any internal at Elaine.H.Christophe@irs.gov. concern respondents’ time and cost
revenue law. Generally, tax returns and FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: burden estimates for complying with tax
tax return information are confidential, Please send separate comments for each filing requirement (or resolving a post-
as required by 26 U.S.C. 6103. specific information collection listed filing issue in the case of the Individual
Request for Comments: Comments below. You must reference the and Business Taxpayer Compliance
submitted in response to this notice will information collection’s title, form Surveys). Additional items on the
be summarized and/or included in our number, reporting or record-keeping survey will serve as contextualizing
request for Office of Management and requirement number, and OMB number variables for interpretation of the
Budget (OMB) approval of the relevant (if any) in your comment. Requests for burden items. These items include
information collection. All comments additional information, or copies of the information regarding tax preparation
will become a matter of public record. information collection and instructions, methods and activities, tax-related
Please do not include any confidential or copies of any comments received, recordkeeping, gathering materials,
or inappropriate material in your contact Elaine Christophe, at (202) 317– learning about tax law, using IRS and/
comments. We invite comments on: (a) 5745, at Internal Revenue Service, Room or non-IRS taxpayer services, and tax
Whether the collection of information is 6526, 1111 Constitution Avenue NW., form completion.
necessary for the proper performance of Washington, DC 20224, or through the Changes in tax regulations, tax
the agency’s functions, including Internet, at Elaine.H.Christophe@irs.gov. administration, tax preparation
whether the information has practical SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: methods, and taxpayer behavior
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency’s Title: IRS Taxpayer Burden Surveys. continue to alter the amount and
estimate of the burden of the collection OMB Number: 1545–2212. distribution of taxpayer burden. Data
of information; (c) ways to enhance the Form Number: CS–11–276. from updated surveys will better reflect
quality, utility, and clarity of the Abstract: Each year, individual the current tax rules and regulations, the
information to be collected; (d) ways to taxpayers in the United States submit increased usage of tax preparation
minimize the burden of the collection of more than 140 million tax returns to the software, increased efficiency of such
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
information on respondents, including Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The IRS software, changes in tax preparation
the use of automated collection uses the information in these returns, regulations, the increased use of
techniques or other forms of information recorded on roughly one hundred electronic filing, the behavioral
technology; and (e) estimates of capital distinct forms and supporting response of taxpayers to the tax system,
or start-up costs and costs of operation, schedules, to administer a tax system the changing use of services, both IRS
maintenance, and purchase of services whose rules span thousands of pages. and external, and related information
to provide the requested information. Managing such a complex and broad- collection needs.
VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:13 Dec 04, 2017 Jkt 244001 PO 00000 Frm 00102 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 E:\FR\FM\05DEN1.SGM 05DEN1](https://thefederalregister.org/doc/82_FR_57756/page/1.svg)
![57526 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 232 / Tuesday, December 5, 2017 / Notices
Number of Frequency of Average time Annual
Activity respondents response (minutes) hour burden
Survey Completion .......................................................................................... 20,000 1 15 5,000
Total .......................................................................................................... ........................ ........................ ........................ 5,333.33
TY2018 Taxpayer Compliance Burden Survey Pre-Work (Conducted in 2017) **
Answering screener questions ........................................................................ 64 1 3 3.2
Participating in the focus group ....................................................................... 32 1 90 48
Answering screener questions ........................................................................ 40 1 3 2
Participating in the focus group ....................................................................... 20 1 60 20
Total .......................................................................................................... ........................ ........................ ........................ 73.20
CY2018 Business Compliance Burden Survey
Reading prenote & reminder postcards ........................................................... 25,000 1 1 416.67
Survey Completion .......................................................................................... 25,000 1 20 8,333.33
Total .......................................................................................................... ........................ ........................ ........................ 8,750
TY2018 Individual Taxpayer Burden Survey
Reading prenote & reminder postcards ........................................................... 20,000 1 1 333.33
Survey Completion .......................................................................................... 20,000 1 15 5,000
Total .......................................................................................................... ........................ ........................ ........................ 5,333.33
CY2018 Taxpayer Compliance Burden Survey
Reading prenote & reminder postcards ........................................................... 13,000 1 1 216.67
Survey Completion .......................................................................................... 13,000 1 15 3,250
Total .......................................................................................................... ........................ ........................ ........................ 3,466.67
The annual burden cost to respondents is estimated to total $336,038 (14,083.33 hours × $23.86) for 2016, $70,811 (29,497.53 hours ×
$23.86) for 2017, and $418,743,968 (17,5500 hours × $23.86) for 2018. This estimate is derived using $23.86, the May 2016 average wage rate
from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics Survey.
* The TY2017 Trust and Estate Income Tax Burden Survey will be the first attempt to collect information from this taxpayer segment. To better
inform the survey efforts and to ensure adequate feedback from relevant survey strata during the cognitive testing phase, we are requesting bur-
den hours to conduct focus groups to inform survey instrument design and additional respondents for testing the draft survey instrument.
** This work will be conducted as part of the CY2018 Taxpayer Compliance Burden Survey data collection, but it will occur in 2017.
The following paragraph applies to all the agency’s functions, including DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
of the collections of information covered whether the information has practical
by this notice: utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency’s Internal Revenue Service
An agency may not conduct or estimate of the burden of the collection
sponsor, and a person is not required to Proposed Information Collection;
of information; (c) ways to enhance the
respond to, a collection of information Comment Request for Regulation
quality, utility, and clarity of the
unless the collection of information Project
information to be collected; (d) ways to
displays a valid OMB control number. minimize the burden of the collection of AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS),
Books or records relating to a collection information on respondents, including Treasury.
of information must be retained as long the use of automated collection
as their contents may become material Notice and request for
ACTION:
techniques or other forms of information comments.
in the administration of any internal technology; and (e) estimates of capital
revenue law. Generally, tax returns and or start-up costs and costs of operation,
tax return information are confidential, SUMMARY: The Internal Revenue Service,
maintenance, and purchase of services as part of its continuing effort to reduce
as required by 26 U.S.C. 6103. to provide the requested information. paperwork and respondent burden,
Request for comments: Comments invites the general public and other
submitted in response to this notice will Approved: November 28, 2017.
L. Brimmer,
Federal agencies to take this
be summarized and/or included in our opportunity to comment on continuing
request for Office of Management and Senior Tax Analyst.
information collections, as required by
Budget (OMB) approval of the relevant [FR Doc. 2017–26117 Filed 12–4–17; 8:45 am] the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
information collection. All comments
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
BILLING CODE 4830–01–P IRS is soliciting comments concerning
will become a matter of public record. Automatic Contribution Arrangements.
Please do not include any confidential
or inappropriate material in your DATES: Written comments should be
comments. received on or before February 5, 2018
We invite comments on: (a) Whether to be assured of consideration.
the collection of information is ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments
necessary for the proper performance of to L. Brimmer, Internal Revenue
VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:13 Dec 04, 2017 Jkt 244001 PO 00000 Frm 00104 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 E:\FR\FM\05DEN1.SGM 05DEN1](https://thefederalregister.org/doc/82_FR_57756/page/3.svg)
Document Created: 2017-12-04 23:45:48
Document Modified: 2017-12-04 23:45:48
| Category | Regulatory Information | |
| Collection | Federal Register | |
| sudoc Class | AE 2.7: GS 4.107: AE 2.106: | |
| Publisher | Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration | |
| Section | Notices | |
| Action | Notice and request for comments. | |
| Dates | Written comments should be received on or before February 5, 2018 to be assured of consideration. | |
| Contact | Please send separate comments for each specific information collection listed below. You must reference the information collection's title, form number, reporting or record- keeping requirement number, and OMB number (if any) in your comment. Requests for additional information, or copies of the information collection and instructions, or copies of any comments received, contact Elaine Christophe, at (202) 317-5745, at Internal Revenue Service, Room 6526, 1111 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20224, or through the Internet, at [email protected] | |
| FR Citation | 82 FR 57524 |
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