CS-110-290 - Cover Sheet

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: OMB# 1545-1432)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:

Online web based survey to understand the effectiveness of 8 IRS notices

PURPOSE:

The primary purpose of this web-based research survey is to understand respondent perception and comprehension for 8 IRS notices. Each survey will be tested in pairs inclusive of the existing notice along with its redesigned version. This would enable us to evaluate differences in perception and comprehension. By comparing differences in perception and comprehension among pairs or against S+G benchmarks, we can meet our secondary objective to identify areas that could be improved and what those potential refinements might be.

The research data and findings will be used to:

1. Validate and/or quantify the degree of improvement of redesigned IRS notices

2. Identify problem areas in the notices and provide guidance and insight on specific refinements

3. Enhance an already established perception and comprehension benchmark of IRS notices

4. Used internally for general service improvement and program management purposes and is not intended for release outside of the agency

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions;

6. Information gathered will yield quantitative information; and is expected to yield statistically reliable results that are generalizable to the population of study ;

7. The collection is voluntary;

8. The collection is low-burden for respondents (based on considerations of total burden hours, total number of respondents, or burden-hours per respondent) and are low-cost for both the respondents and the Federal Government;

9. The collection is non-controversial and do not raise issues of concern to other Federal agencies;

10. This collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the notices or may have experience with it in the near future; and

11. The feedback received will not institute new policy, yet enable the Service to effectively meet taxpayer needs.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

This web-based survey will be conducted with general US consumers. The research will be based on voluntary participation by a specific segment of the population that has identified themselves as qualified respondents; Over the age of 18 that reside in the US and have filed a tax return in the last five (5) years.

An estimated 4,400 taxpayers will be participating. This refers to the estimated number of people receiving invitations to participate in the survey. From this, 80% are expected to click on the invitation and begin the survey. However, not all respondents who click will complete the survey (some will start and drop off before finishing). So we are oversampling by 10% to ensure that we achieve 400 completed surveys for each test, 3,200 in total (8 tests, 400 surveys).

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software [ ] Small Discussion Group

[] Focus Group [ x ] Other: Quantitative Online Survey

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name:___Robert P. Kurisko_____________________________________________

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [x] No

2. If yes, is the information that will be collected included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974?

[ ] Yes [ ] No

3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants?

[x] Yes [ ] No

A point stipend worth a minimum of $10.00 will be provided for each completed survey. Points can be redeemed for a check that is mailed to the respondent or can be redeemed online. The stipend aims to encourage participation and to thank respondents for sharing their time and contributions to our research.

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
People contacted to participate in the survey	4,400 Approx.	1 Min	73 hrs
Actual participants completing the survey	3,200	20 min	1,067 hrs
Total		1,140

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $40,000

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [x] Yes [ ] No

Respondents will be drawn from a standing panel who are voluntarily participating in this survey. Respondents will be sent an e-mail indicating that a survey is available for them to take. They can then click on the link embedded in the e-mail and will be taken to a set of screening questions.

Participants will be limited to individuals over the age of 18 that reside in the US and have filed a tax return in the last five (5) years. Sampling plan has been attached.

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[ x ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ ] Yes [ x ] No