SB/SE, Estate and Gift Tax Examination

Cover Letter for Non-Respondents

Request for Approval for the Collection of Customer Feedback

(OMB Control Number: 1545-1432)

T ITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:

Small Business/Self Employed (SBSE) 2012 Estate and Gift (E&G) Tax Customer Satisfaction Mail Survey

PURPOSE:

The key goals of the survey are 1) to survey our external customers on an ongoing basis regarding their expectations, 2) track customer satisfaction progress over time nationwide, and 3) identify operational improvements within SB/SE E&G Tax.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

Respondents are taxpayers who have been through a compliance issue.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [X] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software [ ] Small Discussion Group

[ ] Focus Group [ ] Other

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name: Joann McDowell, SB/SE Policy Analyst/COTR, 202-283-6020 (certified:1/25/2012)

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [] Yes [X] No

2. If Yes, is the information that will be collected included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [] Yes [] No

3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [] Yes [X] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ ] Yes [X] No

BURDEN HOURS

The survey interview is designed to minimize burden on the taxpayer. The questions are generally one sentence in structure and on an elementary concept level. The time that a respondent takes to complete the mail survey is carefully considered and only the most important areas are being surveyed. The burden for each participant is expected to be 7 minutes, including 2 minutes to read correspondence.

Based on a sample of potential respondents of 5,309 and a response rate of 25%, we expect 1,327 survey participants, leaving 3,982 non-participants. The burden for non-participants is 3,982 x 2 minutes = 7,964/60 minutes = 132.7 burden hours. The time burden for participants is 1,327 x 7 = 9,289/60 minutes = 154.8 burden hours.

The total burden hours for the survey is (132.7 + 154.8) = 287.5 burden hours

Minor revisions, that will not impact the burden hours, may be made to the survey questionnaire.

E&G Tax Mail Survey

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
E&G Tax Non-participant	3,982	2 min	132.7
E&G Tax Expected Participants	1,327	7 min	154.8
Totals	5,309		287.5

Estimated Response Rate: 25%

Total Burden Estimate = 287.5 hrs

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $77,665.

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [] Yes [X ] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[X] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ ] Yes [X] No

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

Survey instruments are attached at the end of this file.