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pdfOMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT
STUDY TO MEASURE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
INNOCENT SPOUSE – CY2010
JANUARY 1, 2010 - DECEMBER 31, 2010
TIRNO-05-Z-000XX
Introduction
Background/Overview
IRS engages a balanced measurement system, consisting of business results, customer
satisfaction, and employee satisfaction, to assess how well it is achieving its mission and
objectives. This initiative is part of the Service-wide system of balanced organizational
performance measures mandated by the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998. This is
also a result of Executive Order 12862, which requires all government agencies to survey
their customers and incorporate customer preferences in their process improvement efforts.
Innocent Spouse claims are a critical component of the Restructuring and Reform Act of
1998 (RRA98).
The Innocent Spouse program is responsible for protecting the rights of the requesting and
non-requesting spouses. They ensure each claim receives timely and consistent treatment in
accordance with established guidelines and the law. Under current tax laws, when a married
couple files a joint federal income tax return, each spouse becomes individually responsible
for paying the entire tax bill. As a result, one spouse can be held liable for tax deficiencies
assessed after a joint return was filed, even if the additional taxes were solely attributable to
the income of the other spouse. If the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cannot collect the
additional taxes owed on the unreported income from the spouse who earned the income, it
may seek to collect the money from the other spouse. The spouse may obtain relief from the
additional liability if certain conditions are met.
Processing requests for Relief from Joint and Several Liability is centralized at the Cincinnati
IRS Campus now known as the Cincinnati Centralized Innocent Spouse Operation (CCISO)
of the Andover Compliance Center. The Innocent Spouse Tracking System (ISTS) tracks all
innocent spouse cases. For reporting purposes, ISTS provides a flat file of ISTS data to
Examination, for management reporting. This flat file serves as the sampling database for
customer satisfaction surveys.
As an important customer interface for Wage & Investment, Innocent Spouse request
feedback from customers (i.e., taxpayers) to continuously improve its operations.
This project has three primary goals:
•
Identify customer expectations of the Innocent Spouse Program;
•
Track customer satisfaction for the Innocent Spouse Program on a national level; and,
•
Identify operational improvements.
Objectives of Data Collection
The objective of the surveys is to capture customer expectations and perceptions about the
Innocent Spouse process. The questionnaire asks respondents to evaluate various aspects of
their experience and to provide an overall summary evaluation.
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The questionnaire was developed based on input from traditional and cognitive focus group
sessions with customers serviced by the Innocent Spouse staff in prior years. Focus groups
helped build a more detailed questionnaire tailored to obtain:
•
Insight from the customer’s perspective about possible improvements.
•
Useful input for program evaluation and execution at the programmatic and field office
level of service delivery.
The survey includes several ratings questions evaluating service delivery during the Innocent
Spouse process as well as several demographic items. In addition, ample space is provided
for additional suggestions for improvement.
Methodology
Sample Design
The sample universe consists of taxpayers with recently closed Innocent Spouse cases. The
IRS Innocent Spouse Project Office provides the contractor with a complete database each
month from which a random sample can be drawn. The database consists of a unique
identifying number (TIN), customer name and address, and relevant database information
about each innocent spouse case, all in a single record. The database also contains
information as to whether the questionnaire should be sent to the innocent spouse or the
innocent spouse's taxpayer representative. Accordingly, the address of the taxpayer’s
representative is included on the database.
The sampling plan is designed to result in 2,310 completed questionnaires for the year
(approximately 577 completed questionnaires per quarter) at the national level. The sample
focuses only on Merit cases. Merit cases are cases completing the entire Innocent Spouse
Process to closure.
Upon receipt of the data file, the contractor runs the file through standard checks to ensure
complete mailing address and to remove duplicate cases both within the file, and across files
of other surveys that are being conducted. The contractor randomly selects records to achieve
the desired quantity of completed interviews.
The Innocent Spouse Customer Satisfaction Survey has already been developed and is
currently in use.
Data to be Collected
Innocent spouse customer satisfaction respondent data is collected.
How Data Collected & Used
Survey scoring for this contract is based on the Customer Satisfaction Survey Score response
average to the keystone question – “Whether you agree or disagree with the final outcome,
how would you rate your overall satisfaction with the way your claim was handled?”
Questions utilize a 5-point rating scale, with 1 being very dissatisfied and 5 being very
satisfied. Another key feature of the questionnaire is the capture of open-ended comments on
questions answered with a low rating of a “1” or “2”. All survey responses generated will be
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kept “private to the extent of the law”. The contractor ensures that taxpayers responding to
the survey are guaranteed anonymity.
The contractor administers the survey by mail on a monthly basis. Standard procedures are
used in order to obtain the highest response rate possible for these surveys. They include: 1)
an advance letter (pre-note) about the survey; 2) a cover letter with the survey; 3) a postcard
reminder; and, 4) a second letter and survey to non-respondents.
The contractor, on a quarterly basis, summarizes the quantitative ratings and produces a
national report showing customer satisfaction scores on all Innocent Spouse survey items and
overall improvement priorities for the function. The contractor includes any relevant database
variables in the analysis and weights the survey responses as necessary to accurately reflect
the entire customer base.
Dates of Collection Begin/End
Data collection runs the 2010 calendar year from January 1, 2010 through December 31,
2010.
Who is Conducting the Research/Where
The contractor is responsible for ensuring the sample is pulled and to conduct data analysis.
A separate GPO contractor is responsible for printing and administering the survey via mail,
and then providing the dataset to the contractor.
Cost of Study
The estimated cost for this survey is $98,243.
Expected Response Rate
The expected response rate is 35%. The expected response rate on this survey is lower than
the OMB 50% target rate since the sample consists of taxpayers with compliance issues.
There are no incentives offered to encourage taxpayers to respond to the survey. Mail
surveys also traditionally yield lower response rates than other methodologies such as
telephone or in-person interviews. Telephone and in-person techniques offer the advantage of
interviewer contact who can further encourage taxpayers to respond through refusal
conversion techniques. The mail survey methodology employs best practices in maximizing
response rates by sending out enough mailings as justified without creating extra burden for
taxpayers.
With regard to the low response rate, the IRS assumes that all data collected from this survey
is qualitative in nature, and that no critical decisions will be made by this office solely from
the analysis of data from this survey. The results from this survey are simply one piece of a
larger set of information needed to assess the needs related to services provided by the IRS.
Methods to Maximize Response Rate
The questionnaire length is minimized to reduce respondent burden; thereby, tending to
increase response rates. Respondents are assured anonymity of their responses. Also,
weighting procedures can be applied to adjust aggregated data from those who do respond.
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Test Structure and Design
The Innocent Spouse questionnaire is an established and tested survey instrument. If changes
are made to the questionnaire, they are expected to be minor.
Efforts to avoid Duplicate Research
This is the only survey is the only survey by W&I Compliance where Innocent Spouse
customer satisfaction respondent data is collected.
Participants Criteria
Survey participants are randomly pulled from cases completing the entire Innocent Spouse
Process to closure.
Privacy, Disclosure and Security Issues
The IRS will ensure compliance with the Taxpayer Bill of Rights II. All participants will be
treated fairly and appropriately.
The security of the data used in this project and the privacy of participants will be carefully
safeguarded at all times. Security requirements are based on the Computer Security Act of
1987 and Office of Management and Budget Circular A-130, Appendices A7B. Physical
security measures include a locked, secure office. Audiotapes are stored in locked cabinets.
Transcription of audiotapes are stored in locked cabinets or shredded. Data security at the
appropriate levels has been accomplished. Systems are password protected, users profiled for
authorized use, and individual audit trails generated and reviewed periodically. The IRS will
apply and meet fair information and record keeping practices to ensure privacy protection of
all participants. This includes criterion for disclosure—laid out in the Privacy Act of 1974,
the Freedom of Information Act, and Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code—all of
which provide for the protection of taxpayer information as well as its release to authorized
recipients. Privacy will be safeguarded; participants will not be identified to IRS personnel.
In addition, no participant names will be mentioned in the reports or data files. Participants
will be advised that comments will be audio taped. Privacy is assured by virtue of agency
policy.
Pursuant to the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), Title III of the EGovernment Act of 2002, P.L. 107-347, the contractor shall provide minimum security
controls required to protect Federal information and information systems. The term
‘information security’ means protecting information and information systems from
unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction in order to
provide confidentially, integrity and availability.
The contractor shall provide information security protections commensurate with the risk and
magnitude of the harm resulting from the unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption,
modification, or destruction of information collected or maintained by or on behalf of the
agency; or information systems used or operated by an agency or by a contractor of an
agency. This applies to individuals and organizations having contractual arrangements with
the IRS, including employees, contractors, contractors, and outsourcing providers, which use
or operate information technology systems containing IRS data. The contractor shall comply
with Department of Treasury Directive TD P 85-01, Treasury Security Manual TDP 71-10,
and Internal Revenue Manual 10.8.1 Information Technology Security Policy and Guidance.
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The contractor shall comply with IRS Internal Revenue Manuals (IRM) and Law
Enforcement Manuals (LEM) when developing or administering IRS information and
information systems. The contractor shall comply with the Taxpayer Browsing Protection
Act of 1997 - Unauthorized Access (UNAX), the Act amends the Internal Revenue Code
6103 of 1986 to prevent the unauthorized inspection of taxpayer returns or tax return
information. Contractors systems that collect, maintain, operate or use agency information or
an information system on behalf of the agency (a General Support System (GSS), Major or
Minor Application with a FIPS 199 security categorization) must ensure annual reviews, risk
assessments, security plans, control testing, a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA), contingency
planning, and certification and accreditation, at a minimum meet NIST guidance, if required
by the IRS.
The contractor shall be subject to at the option / discretion of the agency, to periodically test,
(but no less than annually) and evaluate the effectiveness of information security controls and
techniques. The assessment of information security controls may be performed by an agency
independent auditor, security team or Inspector General, and shall include testing of
management, operational, and technical controls of every information system that maintain,
collect, operate or use federal information on behalf of the agency. The agency and
contractor shall document and maintain a remedial action plan, also known as a Plan of
Action and Milestones (POA&M) to address any deficiencies identified during the test and
evaluation. The contractor must cost-effectively reduce information security risks to an
acceptable level within the scope, terms and conditions of the contract. The contractor shall
maintain procedures for detecting, reporting, and responding to security incidents, and
mitigating risks associated with such incidents before substantial damage is done to federal
information or information systems. The contractor shall immediately report all computer
security incidents that involve IRS information systems to the IRS Computer Security
Incident Response Center (CSIRC). Any theft or loss of IT equipment with federal
information / data must be reported within one hour of the incident to CSIRC. Those
incidents involving the loss or theft of sensitive but unclassified (SBU) data (i.e. taxpayer,
PII) shall be reported to CSIRC, first-line manager, and Treasury Inspector General for Tax
Administration (TIGTA). Based on the computer security incident type, CSIRC may further
notify the Treasury Computer Security Incident Response Capability (TCSIRC) in
accordance with TCSIRC procedures.
Burden Hours
The survey interview is designed to minimize burden on the taxpayer. The time that a
respondent takes to complete the mail survey is carefully considered and only the most
important areas are being surveyed. The average time of survey completion is expected to be
7 minutes. The questions are generally one sentence in structure and on an elementary
concept level.
Based on a sample of potential respondents of 6,600 (approximately 550 per month) and a
response rate of 35%, we expect 2,310 survey participants per year, leaving 4,290 nonparticipants. The contact time to determine non-participants could take up to two minutes to
read the pre-contact letter, with the resulting burden for non-participants being 4,290 x 2
minute = 8,580/60 minutes=143 burden hours.
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For participants, the time to complete the survey is 7 minutes. This reflects the time to read
the pre-notification letter (2 minutes) and time needed to complete the survey (5 minutes
maximum). The time burden for participants is 2,310 x 7 minutes/60 minutes = 269.5 burden
hours.
Thus the total burden hours for the survey would be (143 + 269.5) 412.5 burden hours.
Attachments
Form 13423 Innocent Spouse Survey
L1-Advance letter (pre-note) about the survey
L2-Cover letter with the survey
L3-Postcard reminder
L4-Second letter and survey to non-respondents
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OMB # 1545-1432
IRS WAGE AND INVESTMENT
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEY
INNOCENT SPOUSE
Please provide the IRS with your feedback on the Innocent Spouse Claims Process so the IRS can
provide better service in the future. Your participation is voluntary, and your responses will be
completely anonymous to the IRS. If you have any questions about this survey, you may call the
Survey Helpline at 1-866-960-7897.
1
The questions that follow ask your opinion regarding the Innocent Spouse process. For each
question, regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the outcome, please indicate your answer by
checking the box that best represents your opinion.
How would you rate the ...
a. Ease of finding out about the Innocent Spouse Program? ...........
b. Ease of understanding and completing Form 8857, Request
for Innocent Spouse Relief (And Separation of Liability and
Equitable Relief? ........................................................................
c. Ease of understanding the instructions on Form 8857? .............
d. Getting through to the right IRS employee by phone? ................
e. IRS employees’ knowledge about the Innocent Spouse process?
f. Courtesy and professionalism of IRS employees? ......................
g. Ease of collecting information requested by the IRS? ...............
h. Consideration by the IRS of the information you sent? .............
i. Time you were given to respond to the IRS? ...............................
j. Being kept informed of the status of your claim? ........................
k. Ease of understanding the letter explaining the outcome of
your claim? .................................................................................
l. Amount of time you spent on this claim? ..................................
m. Length of claim process from start to finish? .............................
n. Fairness of treatment by the IRS employees? .............................
Neither
Satisfied
Very
Somewhat
Nor
Somewhat
Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Satisfied
Very
Satisfied
Don’t
Know/Not
Applicable
Somewhat
Satisfied
Very
Satisfied
Don’t
Know/Not
Applicable
If you answered “Very Dissatisfied” or “Dissatisfied” to any of the above questions, explain why:
Neither
2
3
Satisfied
Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the final
Very
Somewhat
Nor
outcome, how would you rate your overall satisfaction with Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Dissatisfied
the way your claim was handled? ................................................
How did you find out about the possibility of obtaining Innocent Spouse Relief? (Check all that apply.)
IRS Agent/Revenue Officer
IRS Web site
Publicity in the news or advertisement
IRS Customer Service Representative Friend/Colleague
Lawyer or legal counsel
IRS Taxpayer Advocate Office
Tax professional
Other – specify:
Please continue on back
Form 13423 (Rev. 2-2009)
Cat. No. 36121A
Department of the Treasury – Internal Revenue Service
4
Where did you obtain the forms and instructions
for filing your claim? (Check all that apply.)
IRS via telephone
IRS office
IRS Web site
Lawyer or legal counsel
Tax professional
Other – specify:
6
Which of the following methods do you prefer to use
when contacting the IRS? (Check all that apply.)
IRS Toll-free Customer Service number
IRS number listed on the letter you received
IRS Web site
Local IRS office by phone
Local IRS office in person
Mail
Through tax professional
Other – specify:
5
Which of the following methods did you use to
contact the IRS throughout the Claims Process?
(Check all that apply.)
IRS Toll-free Customer Service number
IRS number listed on the letter you received
IRS Web site
Local IRS office by phone
Local IRS office in person
Mail
Through tax professional
Other – specify:
7
Who prepared your Form 8857, Request for
Innocent Spouse Relief (And Separation of Liability
and Equitable Relief)? (Check only one response.)
Self
Paid tax professional
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA)
Friend/relative
IRS office
8
Which of the following statements best describes you? (Check only one response.)
I am the taxpayer
I am a tax professional who represented the taxpayer
I am someone else who represented the taxpayer
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: __________________________________
9
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 13423 (Rev. 2-2009)
Cat. No. 36121A
Department of the Treasury – Internal Revenue Service
I need your help with an important initiative I am undertaking to improve
our service to taxpayers across the country. I want to get feedback from
taxpayers like you who have been through the Innocent Spouse process
at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
In a few days, you will receive a questionnaire asking for your opinions
about working with the IRS during and after the processing of your claim.
The questionnaire will take about 5 minutes to complete. Your answers will
be combined with others to give us an evaluation of customer satisfaction with
the service the IRS provides.
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 so that we can make improvements.
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.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
Brady Bennett
Director, Compliance
Wage and Investment Division
L1_I
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 Brady Bennett, Director, Compliance, Wage and
Investment Division of the Internal Revenue Service, asking for your assistance with an important
research project to help improve the service provided to taxpayers who file Innocent Spouse claims.
We are administering a nationwide survey among a random sample of people who filed an Innocent
Spouse claim. We want to know your opinions about your experiences with the Innocent Spouse
process. Your responses are critical to the accuracy of this research and will help us to better
improve our service.
All responses will be anonymous to the IRS, and your participation is voluntary. Your responses
will be grouped with others, so that no single reply can be traced back to an individual. The
questionnaire is quite brief and should take about 5 minutes to complete. Please use the postagepaid 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 public. An important 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 these improvements.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
Dr. Peter Webb
Project Director
L2_I
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 Brady Bennett, Director, Compliance, Wage and
Investment Division of the Internal Revenue Service, asking for your help with an important
research project. So far, we have not received your completed questionnaire. If you have not already
done so, please take a few minutes to fill in your responses. The questionnaire is quite brief and
should only take about 5 minutes to complete. Please use the postage-paid reply envelope to return
your completed questionnaire.
We are administering a nationwide survey among people who have filed an Innocent Spouse
claim. We want to know your opinions about your experiences with the Innocent Spouse process.
Your responses are critical to the accuracy of this research.
We have sent questionnaires to a random sample of taxpayers who have used the Innocent Spouse
process. All responses will be anonymous to the IRS, and your participation is voluntary. We will
group your responses with others, so that no single reply can be traced back to an individual. 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 public. An important 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 these improvements.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
Dr. Peter Webb
Project Director
L4_I
| File Type | application/pdf |
| File Title | Microsoft Word - Innocent spouse OMB Submission CY2010.doc |
| Author | f1kfb |
| File Modified | 2010-01-12 |
| File Created | 2010-01-08 |