1545-1420_supporting_statement_20140814

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

(Form 8849)

OMB #1545-1420

1. CIRCUMSTANCES NECESSITATING COLLECTION OF INFORMATION

Sections 6402, 6404, and 6511 of the Internal Revenue Code and sections 301.6402-2, 301.6404-1, and 301.6404-3 of the Regulations allow for refunds of taxes (other than income taxes) which were illegally, erroneously, or excessively collected; or to claim amounts paid for stamps unused or used in error or excess, and (except in the case of income, estate, or gift tax) to file a claim for abate mentor over assessment of more than the correct amount of tax, interest, addition to tax, or assessable penalty; and to claim a credit, refund, or abatement of interest, penalties, or additions to tax resulting from certain actions by the IRS. Form 8849 is used to claim refunds of excise taxes.

2. USE OF DATA

The information supplied on Form 8849 is used by the IRS to determine the accuracy of the claim filed.

3. USE OF IMPROVED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO REDUCE BURDEN

The Excise Tax e-File and Compliance (ETEC) initiative allows electronic filing of Form 8849 and some of its schedules.

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 the American Bar Association, the National Society of Public Accountants, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and other professional groups to discuss tax law and tax forms. During these meetings, there is an opportunity for those attending to make comments regarding Form 8849.

In response to the Federal Register notice dated June 23, 2014 (79 FR 35638), we received no comments during the comment period regarding Form 8849.

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

Not applicable.

10. ASSURANCE OF CONFIDENTIALITY OF RESPONSES

Generally, tax returns and tax return information are confidential as required by 26 USC 6103.

11. JUSTIFICATION OF SENSITIVE QUESTIONS

A privacy impact assessment (PIA) has been conducted for information collected under this request as part of the “Excise Files Information Retrieval System , ExFIRS”. The Department of Treasury PIAs can be found at http://www.treasury.gov/privacy/PIAs/Pages/default.aspx

Title 26 USC 6109 requires inclusion of identifying numbers in returns, statements, or other documents for securing proper identification of persons required to make such returns, statements, or documents and is the authority for social security numbers (SSNs) in IRS systems. 

12. ESTIMATED BURDEN OF INFORMATION COLLECTION

The burden estimate is as follows:

Form	Number of Responses	Time per Response	Total Hours
8849	53,154	4.21	223,779
Schedule 1	13,399	20.86	279,504
Schedule 2	34,514	11.91	411,062
Schedule 3	4,089	.97	3,967
Schedule 5	239	3.85	921
Schedule 6	5,300	4.75	25,175
Schedule 8	452	5.35	2,419
TOTAL	111,147		946,827

Estimates of the annualized cost to respondents for the hour burdens shown above are not available at this time.

The following regulations impose no additional burden. Please continue to assign OMB No. 1545-1420 to these regulations.

301.6402-2	31.3503-1	48.6420-2
301.6404-1	48.4081-7	48.6421-3
301.6404-2	41.4481-1	48.6427-3
301.6404-3	44.6419-1	44.6419-2
301.6511(a)	301.6511(b)	301.6511(f)
301.6403-1	53.4961-2	53.4963-1
301.6405-1	48.6427-8	48.6427-9

We have reviewed the regulations and have determined that the reporting requirements contained in them are entirely reflected on the form. The justification appearing in Item 1 of the supporting statement applies to the regulations.

13. ESTIMATED TOTAL ANNUAL COST BURDEN TO RESPONDENTS

As suggested by OMB, our Federal Register notice dated

June 23, 2014 (79 FR 35638), 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 response from taxpayers on this subject. As a result, estimates of the cost burdens are not available at this time.

14. ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

The primary cost to the government consists of the cost of printing Form 8849. We estimate that the cost of printing the form is $16,000.

15. REASONS FOR CHANGE IN BURDEN

Changes were made to Schedule 3 (Form 8849) as a result of the expiration of credits for biodiesel and renewable diesel, and alternative fuel and alternative fuel mixtures after 12/31/2013. These credits had previously expired at the end of 2011 and were extended retroactively in 2013. As a result of the expiration, Schedule 3 (Form 8849) is only used to claim the Alternative Fuel Credit, for Liquefied Hydrogen

16. PLANS FOR TABULATION, STATISTICAL ANALYSIS AND PUBLICATION

Not applicable.

17. REASONS WHY DISPLAYING THE OMB EXPIRATION DATE IS INAPPROPRIATE

See attachment.

17. 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.

OMB EXPIRATION DATE

We believe the public interest will be better served by not printing an expiration date on the form(s) in this package.

Printing the expiration date on the form will result in increased costs because of the need to replace inventories that become obsolete by passage of the expiration date each time OMB approval is renewed. Without printing the expiration date, supplies of the form could continue to be used.

The time period during which the current edition of the form(s) in this package will continue to be usable cannot be predicted. It could easily span several cycles of review and OMB clearance renewal. In addition, usage fluctuates unpredictably. This makes it necessary to maintain a substantial inventory of forms in the supply line at all times. This includes supplied owned by both the Government and the public. Reprinting of the form cannot be reliably scheduled to coincide with an OMB approval expiration date. This form may be privately printed by users at their own expense. Some businesses print complex and expensive marginally punched continuous versions, their expense, for use in their computers. The form may be printed by commercial printers and stocked for sale. In such cases, printing the expiration date on the form could result in extra costs to the users.

Not printing the expiration date on the form(s) will also avoid confusion among taxpayers who may have identical forms with different expiration dates in their possession.

For the above reasons we request authorization to omit printing the expiration date on the form(s) in this package.