Surveys; CS-09-158C, CS-09-179, -180, -181, -182, -183, -184, -185, -186, -187, -188, -189, -190, -191, -192, -193, and CS-09-194

I need your help with an important initiative I am undertaking to improve
our service to America's taxpayers. I want to get feedback from taxpayers
like you who have recently received a notice informing you of a balance
due or return delinquency on your tax return.
In a few days, you will receive a questionnaire asking your opinions about
the collection process with the IRS. Please direct it to the person who had
the most contact with the IRS on this matter. The questionnaire should
take less than 5 minutes to complete. Your answers will be combined with
others to give us an evaluation of customer satisfaction with IRS service.
To keep all replies anonymous to the IRS, we have asked an independent
research company to administer the survey. Pacific Consulting Group/Scantron
employees will process the questionnaires and report only statistical totals to us.
I am committed to improving IRS service to every taxpayer. Please help
me in this effort by completing and returning the questionnaire as soon as
possible. If you do not receive a questionnaire, please contact the Survey
Helpline at 1-866-960-7897.
Sincerely,

C. Sherwood
Director, Campus Compliance Services

L1_13257-A

Pacific Consulting Group/Scantron
IRS Customer Survey
P.O. Box 64530
St. Paul, MN 55164-9610 USA

A few days ago, you received a letter from C. Sherwood, Director, Campus Compliance Services,
asking for your help with an important research project.
We are administering a nationwide survey among people who have had contact with the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS). We want to know your opinions about the collection process you went
through which began with a notice informing you of a balance due or a return delinquency. Your
responses are critical to the accuracy of this research.
We are sending questionnaires to a random sample of taxpayers who have gone through the
collection process on a recent tax return. All responses will be anonymous to the IRS, and your
participation is voluntary. We will group your responses with others, so that no individual reply
can be traced back to any one person.
The questionnaire is quite brief and should take less than 5 minutes to complete. Please use the
postage-paid reply envelope to return your completed questionnaire. If you have any questions
about this survey, please feel free to call the Survey Helpline at 1-866-960-7897.
The IRS is committed to improving its performance and service to the American public. A first
step in this process is to gather reliable information from those who have had contact with IRS
services and employees. Your honest opinions will help bring about this improvement.
Sincerely,

Dr. Peter Webb
Project Director

L2_13257-A

Pacific Consulting Group/Scantron
IRS Customer Survey
P.O. Box 64530
St. Paul, MN 55164-9610 USA

Do We Have Your Input Yet?
Recently, you received a questionnaire asking your opinions
about the service you received from the IRS in a recent
contact. If you have already completed and returned the
questionnaire, please accept our sincere thanks. If not, please
take a few minutes to complete it and return it today. We want
to be sure we have your opinions and suggestions.
If you did not receive the questionnaire, or it got misplaced,
please call us at 1-866-960-7897.
Dr. Peter Webb
Project Director
L3_13257-A

Pacific Consulting Group/Scantron
IRS Customer Survey
P.O. Box 64530
St. Paul, MN 55164-9610 USA

A few days ago, you received a survey from C. Sherwood, Director, Campus Compliance Services,
asking for your help with an important research project. If you have already completed the survey,
thank you. If you have not already done so, please take a few minutes to fill in your responses.
We are administering a nationwide survey among people who have had contact with the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS). We want to know your opinions about the collection process you went
through which began with a notice informing you of a balance due or a return delinquency. Your
responses are critical to the accuracy of this research.
We are sending questionnaires to a random sample of taxpayers who have gone through the
collection process on a recent tax return. All responses will be anonymous to the IRS, and your
participation is voluntary. We will group your responses with others, so that no individual reply
can be traced back to any one person.
The questionnaire is quite brief and should take less than 5 minutes to complete. Please use the
postage-paid reply envelope to return your completed questionnaire. If you have any questions
about this survey, please feel free to call the Survey Helpline at 1-866-960-7897.
The IRS is committed to improving its performance and service to the American public. A first
step in this process is to gather reliable information from those who have had contact with IRS
services and employees. Your honest opinions will help bring about this improvement.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Sincerely,

Dr. Peter Webb
Project Director

L4_13257-A

OMB # 1545-1432

IRS SMALL BUSINESS/SELF-EMPLOYED
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEY
COMPLIANCE SERVICES COLLECTION OPERATION
The IRS is trying to improve its service to the public. You can help in this important mission by
answering the questions below. This voluntary survey should take less than 5 minutes to complete.
Your responses will be kept completely anonymous to the IRS. If you have any questions about this
survey, you may call the Survey Helpline at 1-866-960-7897.
The questions that follow ask your opinion regarding how the IRS handled your most recent collection
process. For each question, regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the final outcome, please indicate
your answer by checking the box that best represents your opinion.

1

Please consider only the written notices you received from the IRS
when answering the following questions.
How would you rate the ...
a. Ease of understanding the initial notice? .................................................
b. Ease of understanding the letter you received in response to your written
inquiry? ....................................................................................................
c. Personalization of the letter you received in response to your written
inquiry? ....................................................................................................
d. Accuracy of information provided in response to your written inquiry? ..
e. Ease of obtaining the information you needed from the IRS? .................
f. Correspondence from the IRS adequately addressing all of your issues?
g. Time given you to respond to the IRS? ....................................................
h. Time the IRS took to respond to your written inquiry? ...........................
i. Consideration given to the information you submitted? ..........................
j. Length of the correspondence collection process, from when you first
wrote to the IRS to finish? .......................................................................
k. Explanation of the actions the IRS took to resolve your issue? ...............
l. Follow through of the IRS on what they said they were going to do? .....
m. Understanding that you have payment options? ......................................
n. IRS keeping you informed of the status of your case? ............................
o. Notifying you of case closure? ................................................................
p. Resolving this matter through written correspondence? ..........................
q. Fairness of treatment by the Collection unit? ..........................................

2

Did you attempt to contact the IRS by phone regarding this issue?
 Yes (Continue below)
 No (Skip to question 3)
How would you rate the ...
a. Length of time to get through to an IRS representative by phone? .........
b. Usefulness of the information provided on the phone? ...........................
c. Courtesy and professionalism of the IRS representative? .......................

Neither
Satisfied
Very
Somewhat
Nor
Somewhat
Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Satisfied

Very
Satisfied

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Neither
Satisfied
Very
Somewhat
Nor
Somewhat
Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Satisfied

Very
Satisfied

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Please continue on back
Form 13257-A (Rev. 2-2009)

Cat. No. 34052E

Department of the Treasury – Internal Revenue Service

3

Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the final
outcome, how would you rate your overall satisfaction with the
way your correspondence collection process was handled? ..............

4

Was your issue with the IRS completely resolved?
 Yes
 No (Skip to question 6)
 Not sure (Skip to question 6)

5

Was your issue resolved via phone contact or by mail?
 Phone
 Mail
 Not sure

6

Did you agree with the outcome of your case?
 Yes
 No
 Not sure

7

Did you ...?
 Use a tax professional to assist you with resolving this issue
 Represent yourself in resolving this issue
 Both

Neither
Satisfied
Very
Somewhat
Nor
Somewhat
Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Satisfied

Very
Satisfied





















Occasionally, we conduct additional in-depth IRS-related research. Research participants may receive a
small monetary incentive to participate depending on the research. If you are interested in participating in
future research, please provide us with your telephone number and your e-mail address (if available). This
information will not be shared with the IRS and will be used only for the purpose of survey research.
Telephone number: __________________________

E-mail address: _____________________________

If you have been unable to resolve any specific problems with your tax matter through the normal IRS channels, or
now face a significant hardship due to the application of the tax law, we encourage you to contact the Taxpayer
Advocate Service at 1-877-777-4778.

8

Use this space for comments or suggestions for improvement.

Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. The Paperwork Reduction Act requires that the IRS display an OMB control number on all
public information requests. The OMB Control Number for this study is 1545-1432. Also, if you have any comments regarding
the time estimates associated with this study or suggestions on making this process simpler, please write to the: Internal Revenue
Service, Tax Products Coordinating Committee, SE:W:CAR:MP:T:T:SP, 1111 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20224.

Thank you for completing the survey.
Please return the questionnaire to P.O. Box 64530, St. Paul, MN 55164-9610 USA.
Form 13257-A (Rev. 2-2009)

Cat. No. 34052E

Department of the Treasury – Internal Revenue Service