SF3106_3106A_OMBSuppStmt_2016_06_13

OMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT

SF 3106 Application for Refund of Retirement Deductions

SF 3106A Current/Former Spouse's Notification of Application for Refund of Retirement Deductions

A. Justification

1. 5 USC, Chapter 84 provides for the payment from the Federal Employees Retirement System of lump sum refunds of retirement deductions and any other monies to the credit of the eligible individual, plus any interest provided by law.

5 USC, Chapter 84 also provides for the notification of any current spouse and any former spouse of the application for refund of retirement deductions prior to payment of the lump sum credit.

 

2. The information collected permits OPM to determine whether the respondent is eligible to receive the refund, whether to withhold for Federal income tax and to meet requirements of the law. If this information is not collected, OPM cannot pay the refund.

3. The information collected can only be obtained from the respondents. New methods of information technology would do little to reduce the burden on the respondents; they must sign the application attesting to its truth, under penalty of law, to the best of their knowledge. The form is available in PDF fillable format on our website at www.opm.gov/forms.

4. These applications are filed individually each time a former employee requests a refund of retirement contributions. This request is not recorded elsewhere. Duplication is minimized as up-to-date, similar information is not available.

5. The information is not collected from small businesses or other small entities.

6. The collection of this information is performed as needed to determine eligibility. Less frequent collection is not applicable.

7. This information collection is consistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.6.

8. Notice of the information collection was published in the Federal Register, on April 20, 2016 [Vol. 81, No. 76, Page 23333], giving persons outside the agency an opportunity to comment on this form. One comment was received to make minor edits to the formatting of the form that is under review. A 30-day notice will be published in the Federal Register with this submission.

9. No payment or gift is provided to these respondents.

10. This information collection is protected by the Privacy Act of 1974 and OPM regulations (5 CFR 841.108). The routine uses of disclosure appear in the Federal Register for OPM/Central-1 (64 FR 54930, et. seq., October 8, 1999, as amended at 65 FR 25775, May 3, 2000.)

11. This information collection does not include questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private.

12. A total of approximately 4,534 hours are used to complete the SF 3106 and SF 3106A annually.

Approximately 8,000 SF 3106, Application for Refund of Retirement Deductions, will be processed annually. The SF 3106 takes 30 minutes to complete for a total of 4,000 hours annually.

Approximately 6,400 SF 3106A, Current/Former Spouse’s Notification of Application for Refund of Retirement Deductions, will be processed annually.
The SF 3106A takes 5 minutes to complete for a total of 534 hours annually.

12. There is no cost to the respondent.

14. The annualized cost to the Federal government for both forms is $136,512.
This cost includes employee salary hours devoted to this program, forms and overhead.

15. The respondent burden has been revised downward, due to a change in the number of refund applications received. This estimate is based on the number of refunds processed in the previous year.

16. The results of this information collection are not published.

17. The OMB approval expiration date is not included on the form, because it tends to confuse applicants using the form and it is not cost effective to reprint forms to change the expiration date.

18. There are no exceptions to the certification statement.

B. Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods

This information collection does not employ statistical method.