Supporting Statement

4

Supporting Statement

1. CIRCUMSTANCES NECESSITATING COLLECTION OF INFORMATION

Form 14145, IRS Applicant Contact Information, is used by the IRS Recruitment Office to collect contact information from individuals who may be interested in working for the IRS now, or at any time in the future (potential applicants). Form 14145 requests the following information: name (first and last), the last four digits of the individual's SSN, whether the individual is a US citizen, address, phone number, email address, special classifications (veteran, CPA, Sch A authority/disabilities, bilingual), and education information (colleges attended, degrees awarded, GPA, major, and year of graduation). There is also a place at the bottom of the form for the IRS recruiter to select what positions the potential applicant is eligible for.

The IRS Recruitment Office enters the information from a completed Form 14145 in its database, PeopleTrak. Once the information has been entered in PeopleTrak, the physical cards are destroyed.

2. USE OF DATA

Currently, all information in PeopleTrak is maintained indefinitely and not deleted pursuant to any records retention policy. An individual's record in PeopleTrak is only retrieved by reference to the individual's name; the last four digits of the individual's SSN are used only to verify the individual's identity. An individual's record cannot be retrieved by the last four digits of the individual's SSN. The information in PeopleTrak is not shared between agencies and is only accessible by IRS recruiters. The primary purpose of PeopleTrak is to keep in contact with the potential applicants regarding employment opportunities with the IRS and Chief Counsel. The contact is done via email and by phone. A potential applicant is contacted about a job at the same time the announcement is posted for the public on the USAjobs website. The potential applicant is only contacted about jobs which correspond to the job categories selected by the IRS recruiter on Form 14145.

3. USE OF IMPROVED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO REDUCE BURDEN

We are offering electronic contact cards when appropriate. We are also working with the IT staff to develop a secure online contact card.

4. EFFORTS TO IDENTIFY DUPLICATION

We have attempted to eliminate duplication within the agency wherever possible.

5. METHODS TO MINIMIZE BURDEN ON SMALL BUSINESSES OR OTHER SMALL ENTITIES

Not applicable.

6. CONSEQUENCES OF LESS FREQUENT COLLECTION ON FEDERAL PROGRAMS OR POLICY ACTIVITIES

Not applicable.

7. SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES REQUIRING DATA COLLECTION TO BE INCONSISTENT WITH GUIDELINES IN 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2)

Not applicable.

8. CONSULTATION WITH INDIVIDUALS OUTSIDE OF THE AGENCY ON AVAILABILITY OF DATA, FREQUENCY OF COLLECTION, CLARITY OF INSTRUCTIONS AND FORMS, AND DATA ELEMENTS

Periodic meetings are held between IRS personnel and representatives of various Federal Agencies to discuss collection of applicant data. During these meetings, there is an opportunity for those attending to make comments regarding the collection requirements related to this committee.

In response to the Federal Register notice (77 FR 45418), dated July 31, 2012, we received no comments during the comment period regarding these proposed and temporary regulations.

9. EXPLANATION OF DECISION TO PROVIDE ANY PAYMENT OR GIFT TO RESPONDENTS

Not applicable.

10. ASSURANCE OF CONFIDENTIALITY OF RESPONSES

Generally, this information is confidential as required by 26 U.S.C. 6103. Safeguards as well as system access are restricted to HR Personnel only needed access to such data.

11. JUSTIFICATION OF SENSITIVE QUESTIONS

Not applicable.

12. ESTIMATED BURDEN OF INFORMATION COLLECTION

The burden estimate is as follows:

Number of Time per Total

Form Responses Response Hours

14145 16,045 5 minutes 6685

Estimates of the annualized cost to respondents for the hour burdens associated with the information collection are not available at this time.

13. ESTIMATED TOTAL ANNUAL COST BURDEN TO RESPONDENTS

As suggested by OMB, our Federal Register notice dated July 31, 2012, requested public comments on estimates of cost burden that are not captured in the estimates of burden hours, i.e., estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of operation, maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information. However, we did not receive any responses from taxpayers on this subject. As a result, estimates of these cost burdens are not available at this time.

14. ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

Not applicable.

15. REASONS FOR CHANGE IN BURDEN

This is a new form.

16. PLANS FOR TABULATION, STATISTICAL ANALYSIS AND PUBLICATION

Not applicable.

17. REASONS WHY DISPLAYING THE OMB EXPIRATION DATE IS INAPPROPRIATE

We believe that displaying the OMB expiration date is inappropriate because it could cause confusion by leading taxpayers to believe that the regulation sunsets as of the expiration date. Taxpayers are not likely to be aware that the Service intends to request renewal of OMB approval and obtain a new expiration date before the old one expires.

18. EXCEPTIONS TO THE CERTIFICATION STATEMENT ON OMB FORM 83-I

Not applicable.

Note: The following paragraph applies to all of the collections of information in this submission:

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.