Supporting_Statement

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

(Notice 2009-41)

OMB# 1545-3134

1. CIRCUMSTANCES NECESSITATING COLLECTION OF INFORMATION

Section 25D of the Internal Revenue Code allows a credit for qualified residential energy efficient property expenditures.

This notice provides procedures by which a manufacturer may certify that solar electric property, solar water heating property, fuel cell property, small wind property, and geothermal heat pump property meet the requirements for qualified residential energy efficient property for purposes of the § 25D credit.

Taxpayers may rely on this certification to claim the credit under § 25D.

2. USE OF DATA

The data will be used by (1) manufacturers for the purpose of determining which specific types of property are considered qualified under § 25D and determining the methods by which certifications will be provided to taxpayers, and (2) taxpayers for the purpose of determining the methods by which the credit may be claimed and whether the credit is allowed with respect to specific property.

3. USE OF IMPROVED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO REDUCE BURDEN

IRS Publications, Regulations, Notices and Letters are to be electronically enabled on a practicable basis in accordance with the IRS Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998.

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

There are no small entities affected by this collection.

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

Consequences of less frequent collection on federal programs or policy activities could consist of a decrease in the amount of taxes collected by the Service, inaccurate and untimely filing of tax returns, and an increase in tax violations.

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

There are no special circumstances requiring data collection to be inconsistent with guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2).

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

In response to the Federal Register Notice (80 FR 53233) dated September 2, 2015, we received no comments during the comment period regarding this notice.

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

No payment or gift has been provided to any respondents.

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 “Individual Master File (IMF)” system and a Privacy Act System of Records notice (SORN) has been issued for this system under IRS 24.030-CADE Individual Master File and IRS 34.037 IRS Audit Trail and Security Records System .  The Department of Treasury PIAs can be found at http://www.irs.gov/uac/Privacy-Impact-Assessments-PIA

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

It is estimated that the total annual reporting burden will be 350 hours. The estimated average annual burden per respondent will be 2.5 hours to complete the requests for certification required under this notice. This estimated burden is based upon the approximated amount of time it will take the average respondent to gather the necessary data and mail that data to the IRS. The estimated number of respondents is 140. This estimate is based upon the approximated number of total manufacturers of the different types of residential energy efficient property.

Respondents Time Per Respondent Burden Hours

140 2.5 350 hours

13. ESTIMATED TOTAL ANNUAL COST BURDEN TO RESPONDENTS

There is no estimated cost burden to respondents.

14. ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

There is no estimated annualized cost to the federal government.

15. REASONS FOR CHANGE IN BURDEN

There is no change in the burden previously approved by OMB. We are making this submission to renew the OMB approval.

16. PLANS FOR TABULATION, STATISTICAL ANALYSIS AND PUBLICATION

There are no plans for tabulation, statistical analysis and publication.

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 notice sunsets as of the expiration date. If § 25D is extended, this could cause confusion among taxpayers.

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

There are no exceptions to the certification statement.

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.