Download:
pdf |
pdfOMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT
STUDY TO MEASURE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
ACOUNTS MANAGEMENT ADJUSTMENTS – CY2010
JANUARY 1, 2010 - DECEMBER 31, 2010
TIRNO-05-Z-00014
Introduction
Background/Overview
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) engages a balanced measurement system consisting of
business results, customer satisfaction, and employee satisfaction. 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.
Wage and Investment (W&I)- Customer Accounts Services (CAS)- Accounts Management
is responsible for:
•
Responding to taxpayers’ technical and account inquiries,
•
Resolving customer account issues,
•
Providing account settlement (payment options), and
•
Working related issues.
As an important customer interface for W&I, Accounts Management is requesting feedback
from customers (i.e., taxpayers) to continuously improve its operations. The results facilitate
more effective management of W&I Accounts Management by:
•
Providing insight from the customer’s perspective about possible improvements.
•
Providing useful input for program evaluation and execution at the programmatic and
field office level of service delivery.
Objectives of Data Collection
The objective of the survey is to gauge customer expectations and perceptions about the
Accounts Management process. This Adjustments customer satisfaction survey project has
two primary goals:
•
Track customer satisfaction at the ten W&I Adjustment sites; and
•
Identify operational improvements.
Methodology
Sample Design
The sample universe consists of taxpayers with closed cases controlled in IDRS. The
contractor will select 3,000 taxpayers per quarter (stratifying by the ten W&I Accounts
Management sites), resulting in a total of 1000 completed questionnaires each quarter (100
per site) and 4,000 completed questionnaires per year (400 per site).
W&I Adjustments OMB, CY2010
1 of 6
The Adjustments Customer Satisfaction Survey has already been developed and is currently
in use. Completion of the survey takes approximately five minutes. The questionnaire is
based on the contractor’s Net Impression methodology, which asks respondents to evaluate
various aspects of their experience and to provide an overall summary evaluation. The
questionnaire was developed based on inputs from focus groups with customers who had
received correspondence from the IRS regarding their tax return or who had filed an
amended return.
The survey includes several ratings questions evaluating service delivery during the
Accounts Management process as well as several demographic items. In addition, ample
space is provided for suggestions for improvement.
Data to be Collected
Accounts Management Adjustments taxpayer customer satisfaction respondent data is
collected.
How Data Collected & Used
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 the mail survey. These include
at a minimum: 1) an advance letter about the survey; 2) the initial survey with a cover letter;
3) a postcard reminder; and, 4) a second letter and survey to non-respondents.
The contractor summarizes the quantitative ratings on a quarterly basis, and produces a
national report showing customer satisfaction scores on all Accounts Management survey
items and overall improvement priorities for the function. The contractor delivers one
national report each quarter and 10 site reports a year. The reports contain individual site
scores on each of the survey items and improvement priorities for the individual sites. The
contractor includes any relevant database variables in the analysis and will weight the survey
responses as necessary to reflect accurately the entire customer base.
Reports of survey findings are distributed to the IRS each quarter. Each report is delivered
approximately five weeks after the survey cut-off date for the quarter. For the quarterly
reports, the contractor uses basic and advanced statistical techniques including, but not
limited to, analysis of variance and the prioritization of improvement priorities using
contractor’s established technique.
Survey scoring for this contract is based on the Customer Satisfaction Survey Score response
average to the keystone question – “Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the
final outcome, how would you rate your overall satisfaction with the way your issue was
handled?” Questions utilize a 5-point rating scale, with 1 being very dissatisfied and 5 being
very satisfied. All survey responses generated are kept “private to the extent of the law”. The
contractor ensures that taxpayers responding to the survey are guaranteed anonymity.
Dates of Collection Begin/End
Data collection runs the 2010 calendar year from January 1, 2010 through December 31,
2010.
W&I Adjustments OMB, CY2010
2 of 5
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 will be 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 $133,133.
Expected Response Rate
The expected response rate is 33.3%. The expected response rate on this survey is lower than
the OMB 50% target rate since the sample consists of taxpayers with compliance issues.
They either owe money to the IRS or have unfiled tax returns. This group of taxpayers
generally doesn’t seek out the IRS. In addition, 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 will assume 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.
Test Structure and Design
The Adjustments 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 Customer Satisfaction survey currently conducted by W&I Customer
Account Services for closed Adjustments cases at their sites
Participants Criteria
Survey participants are manually pulled from Accounts Management Adjustments closed
cases in a random sample by IRS employees at each of the 10 site locations.
W&I Adjustments OMB, CY2010
3 of 5
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.
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.
W&I Adjustments OMB, CY2010
4 of 5
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 12,000 (10 sites, 300 per site each quarter) and
a response rate of 33.3%, we expect 4,000 survey participants (400 per site), leaving 8,000
non-participants. 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
8,000 x 2 minute = 16,000/60 minutes=267 burden hours.
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 4,000 x 7 minutes/60 minutes = 467 burden
hours.
The total burden hours for the survey would be (267 + 467) 734 burden hours.
Attachments
Accounts Management Adjustments 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
W&I Adjustments OMB, CY2010
5 of 5
OMB # 1545-1432
IRS WAGE AND INVESTMENT
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEY
ACCOUNTS MANAGEMENT/ADJUSTMENTS
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.
1
The questions that follow ask your opinion regarding the recent correspondence or an amended return you
have sent to the IRS regarding a tax matter. 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. If
the question does not apply to your situation, check the box labeled “Don’t Know/Not Applicable.”
How satisfied are you with the ...
a. Ease of understanding the initial notice and what was requested
of you? ........................................................................................
b. Appropriateness of the tone of IRS correspondence concerning
your issue? ..................................................................................
c. Completeness of instructions you received for resolving
your issue? ..................................................................................
d. Ease of providing information requested by the IRS? .................
e. Ease of understanding responses from the IRS? ........................
f. Ease of getting more information about your issue? ..................
g. IRS keeping you informed about the status of your case? .........
Neither
Satisfied
Very
Somewhat
Nor
Somewhat
Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Satisfied
Very
Satisfied
Don’t
Know/Not
Applicable
(If “Very Dissatisfied” or “Somewhat Dissatisfied” rating): Why did you give this item a low rating?
h. Explanation regarding the resolution of your issue? ...................
i. Length of time it took to resolve the issue? .................................
(If “Very Dissatisfied” or “Somewhat Dissatisfied” rating): Why did you give this item a low rating?
j. Fairness of treatment by the IRS? ...............................................
k. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the final
outcome, how would you rate your overall satisfaction with
the way your issue was handled? ...............................................
2
Did you write or send an amended return to the
IRS because the IRS sent you a notice or a letter?
Yes
No
4
Have you contacted the IRS about this same
issue for any prior year’s tax return?
Yes
No (If you have NOT contacted the
IRS about this issue before, please skip
to question 6.)
3
What method(s) did you use to contact the IRS
about this issue? (Please mark all that apply.)
E-mail
In person
Mail
Other
Toll-free line
5
How would you rate the level of service received
from this contact versus previous contacts?
Better
Worse
The same
Please continue on back
Form 13257-F (Rev. 2-2009)
Cat. No. 36148R
Department of the Treasury – Internal Revenue Service
6
For this recent interaction, how many days elapsed
between the time you submitted your correspondence
or amended return and the time you received a reply?
Less than 15 days
9
15-29 days
15-29 days
30-44 days
30-44 days
45-60 days
45-60 days
Over 60 days
7
Did not receive a reply
What is a reasonable time frame to wait for the
IRS to respond to your issue?
10
15-29 days
30-44 days
45-60 days
Over 60 days
Was your issue with the IRS completely resolved?
Over 60 days
Did you ...?
Use a tax professional to assist you
with resolving your issue
Represent yourself
Less than 15 days
8
How many days did it take to resolve your
issue from the time you contacted, or were
contacted by, the IRS about this issue?
Less than 15 days
11
Other
Please mark the topic that best describes
your main issue.
Status of refund
Status of payment
Yes (Skip to question 9.)
Penalty/Interest charges
No (Skip to question 10.)
Earned income credit
Not sure (Skip to question 10.)
Exemptions/Dependents
Name/Address changes
Credits (child care, education, etc.)
Other changes to original return
Other
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.
12
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-F (Rev. 2-2009)
Cat. No. 36148R
Department of the Treasury – Internal Revenue Service
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 had correspondence with the IRS regarding their tax
return or who have filed an amended return.
In a few days, you will receive a questionnaire asking your opinions about
resolving such issues 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.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
Jane Looney
Director, Accounts Management
Wage and Investment Division
L1_F
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 Jane Looney, Director, Accounts Management, Wage
and Investment Division, 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 process of corresponding with the
IRS regarding your tax return or filing an amended return. Your responses are critical to the accuracy
of this research.
We are sending questionnaires to a random sample of taxpayers who have had such issues. 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 an individual.
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 these changes.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
Dr. Peter Webb
Project Director
L2_F
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 Jane Looney, Director, Accounts Management,
Wage and Investment Division, 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.
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 process of corresponding with the
IRS regarding your tax return or filing an amended return. Your responses are critical to the accuracy
of this research.
We are sending questionnaires to a random sample of taxpayers who have had such issues. 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 an individual.
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 these changes.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
Dr. Peter Webb
Project Director
L4_F
| File Type | application/pdf |
| File Title | Microsoft Word - Adjustments Survey OMB Submission CY2010 rev #1.doc |
| Author | f1kfb |
| File Modified | 2010-01-08 |
| File Created | 2010-01-06 |