Supporting Statement final Form 13768

5

Supporting Statement

Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee Membership Application

Form 13768

1545-2231

1. CIRCUMSTANCES NECESSITATING COLLECTION OF INFORMATION

The Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 (RRA 98) authorized the creation of the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee (ETAAC). ETAAC has a primary duty of providing input to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on its strategic plan for electronic tax administration. Accordingly, ETAAC’s responsibilities involve researching, analyzing and making recommendations on a wide range of electronic tax administration issues.

The Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee (ETAAC) provides an organized public forum for discussion of electronic tax administration issues in support of the overriding goal that paperless filing should be the preferred and most convenient method of filing tax and information returns. ETAAC members convey the public’s perception of the IRS electronic tax administration activities, offer constructive observations about current or proposed policies, programs, and procedures, and suggest improvements.

Each February, the IRS will solicit applications for membership to maintain a balance of new and returning members. Open season will be announced with a notice in the Federal Register. This is a volunteer position with a time commitment of approximately 150 hours, excluding travel. Volunteers should have experience in electronic tax administration. See the application for a detailed list of skills and qualifications. Applicants may be nominated by individuals and/or associations.

2. USE OF DATA

In order to apply to be a member of the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee applicants must submit the Membership Application. The agency will use the information in order to perform Federal Income Tax, FBI, and practitioner checks as required of all members and applicants to the Committees.

3. USE OF IMPROVED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO REDUCE BURDEN

We have no plans at this time to offer electronic filing because of the low volume compared to the cost of electronic enabling.

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

Applications are accepted once a year and each member is generally appointed to a three year term. Terms are staggered so that approximately one-third of the committee membership changes each year. Less frequent collection would not allow for the appointment of the appropriate number of committee members. In addition, members are drawn from diverse backgrounds. Members represent the taxpaying public, tax professional community, small and large businesses, colleges and universities, state tax administrations, banks, insurance companies, foreign financial institutions, and the software and payroll industries. Collecting applications annually allows for balance membership from substantially diverse backgrounds when membership seats become available.

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

Periodic meetings are held between IRS personnel and representatives of various professional groups to discuss tax law and tax forms. During these meetings, there is an opportunity for those attending to make comments regarding the collection requirements related to this committee. Individuals can also send inquiries via e-mail to: [email protected].

In response to the Federal Register notice (80 FR 72487), dated November 19, 2015, we received no comments during the comment period regarding Form 13768.

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 U.S.C. 6103.

11. JUSTIFICATION OF SENSITIVE QUESTIONS

A privacy impact assessment (PIA) has been conducted for information collected under this request and a Privacy Act System of Records notice (SORN) has been issued for this system. The Internal Revenue Service PIAs can be found at https://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

The burden estimate is as follows:

Number of Time per Total

Form Responses Response Hours

13768 500 1 hour, 30 minutes 750 hours

13. ESTIMATED TOTAL ANNUAL COST BURDEN TO RESPONDENTS

There are no annual start-up costs associated with this collection.

14. ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

There is no annualized cost to the federal government. The forms will be downloaded by taxpayer representatives, filled out, and printed on their own printers.

15. REASONS FOR CHANGE IN BURDEN

The overall burden estimate has increased by 250 hours as the agency updated the estimated time to complete the form from 1 hour, to 1 hour and 30 minutes. There have been no changes to the estimated number of respondents.

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

See below (OMB Expiration Date).

18. EXCEPTIONS TO THE CERTIFICATION STATEMENT

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.