Supporting Statement

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

(Schedule H Form 1040)

1545-1971

1. CIRCUMSTANCES NECESSITATING COLLECTION OF INFORMATION

IRC sections 6011 and 6012 of the Internal Revenue Code require individuals to prepare and file income tax returns annually. Form 1040 and related schedules, are used by individuals to report their income subject to tax and compute their correct tax liability.

Schedule H (Form 1040), is used to figure household employment taxes.

2. USE OF DATA

Schedule H (Form 1040), will be used in computing the tax liability and in determining that the items claimed are properly allowable. It is also used for general statistical use.

3. USE OF IMPROVED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO REDUCE BURDEN

We are offering electronic filing for Schedule H (Form 1040).

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

If this information was not reported to the IRS, the qualified taxpayer would be unable to timely report their employment taxes, and could not take advantage of the credit; which could reduce their tax liability.

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 dated March 31, 2016, (81 FR 18685, no comments were received during the comment period.

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--Customer Account Data Engine Individual Master File, formerly Individual Master File, and IRS 34.037--IRS Audit Trail and Security Records System. The Department of Treasury 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

List the number of responses, time per response, and total burden for each form included in the submission.

The burden estimate is as follows:

Number of Time per Total

Form Responses Response Hours

Schedule H 196,500 3 hrs., 55 mins. 772,245

13. ESTIMATED TOTAL ANNUAL COST BURDEN TO RESPONDENTS

There is no estimated annualized startup costs associated with the collection.

14. ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

After consultation with various functions within the Service, we have determined that the cost of developing, printing, processing, distribution and overhead for the form is $15,000,000.

15. REASONS FOR CHANGE IN BURDEN

The reason for the change in burden is to reflect an increase in the number of respondents. The number of respondents has increase by 28,066.

The new burden total for this collection is 772,245 hours.

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 attachment.

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.