W&I:Compliance, Innocent Spouse

OMB #1545-1432

IRS CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEY

In an effort to improve its services to the public, the IRS is seeking the opinions of taxpayers who have been through the Innocent Spouse claim process at the IRS. Please assist us by completing this brief voluntary survey, which should take less than 7 minutes of your time. ICF will keep your identity private to the extent permitted by law. If you have any questions about this survey, you may call the ICF Survey Helpline at 1-888-260-0052.

1. Thinking of the processing of your Innocent Spouse relief request, regardless of whether you agreed or disagreed with the final outcome, please mark the option that best represents your experiences throughout the claim process.

Please rate your satisfaction with the following: Very Dissatisfied; Somewhat Dissatisfied; Neither Satisfied Nor Dissatisfied; Somewhat Satisfied; Very Satisfied; Don’t Know/Not Applicable

a. Overall, the way the IRS handled your Innocent Spouse claim

b. Ease of understanding the initial IRS letter explaining the Innocent Spouse claim process

c. How clearly the IRS explained what documents you needed to send to support your

Innocent Spouse claim

d. IRS employees’ knowledge about the Innocent Spouse claim process

e. How well the IRS kept you informed of the status of your Innocent Spouse claim

f. The consistency of information provided to you during the Innocent Spouse claim process

g. How well the IRS explained the result of your Innocent Spouse claim

h. The length of the Innocent Spouse claim process from start to finish

2. If you answered “Very Dissatisfied” or “Somewhat Dissatisfied” to any of the above questions, can you describe what caused you to feel that way?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Did you call the IRS about your Innocent Spouse claim using a telephone number listed on any of the letters?

 Yes (continue to 4)

 No (skip to 5)

 Don’t recall (skip to 5)

4. Regardless of the outcome your claim, how satisfied were you with the service you received on these calls?

5. During the claim process, approximately how many times did you contact the IRS? (Please enter zero if you did not contact the IRS by this method.)

Mail  ____ Times; Telephone ____ Times; Fax ____ Times;

6. When you first submitted your Innocent Spouse claim, how many months did you expect it would take?

_____ Months

7. What was the actual amount of time…?

___ Shorter than you expected

___ About equal to your expectations

___ Longer than you expected

8. How much do you agree with the following statements? Strongly Agree; Disagree; Neutral; Agree;

Strongly Agree; N/A

a. I received an adequate description of the claim process

b. My experience reflected the described claim process

c. I had the opportunity to provide information important to my case

d. I was treated with respect during the claim process

9. Overall, how well did the IRS meet your expectations while handling your Innocent Spouse claim?

__Much better than expected

__Better than expected

__As expected

__Worst than expected

__Much worse than expected

If you answered “Worse than expected” or “Much worse than expected” to the above question, can you describe what caused you to feel that way? _____________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

10. Who prepared your request for Innocent Spouse Relief? (Mark only one.)

__You ___IRS service representative at an IRS office

__Professional tax preparer ___Volunteer (at a volunteer tax preparation location)

__Friend or relative ___Other

11. The IRS continually looks for ways to improve its service to taxpayers throughout the Innocent Spouse clam process. Please use this space to provide your comments or suggestions for improvement. We welcome your feedback.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Occasionally, the IRS asks ICF to conduct additional in-depth research on tax-related issues. Research participants may receive a small monetary incentive to participate depending on the research. If you are interested in participating in future research, please provide us with your telephone number and e-mail address (if available). This information will not be shared with the IRS and will be used only for the purpose of this research. If you have any questions about this, please contact the ICF Survey Helpline at 1-888-260-0052. Telephone number: (__ ___ ___) ___ ___ ____ - ___ ___ ___ ___;

E-mail address:_______________________________________________________________________

If you have been unable to resolve any specific problems with your tax matter through the normal IRS channels, or now face a significant hardship due to the application of the tax law, we encourage you to contact the Taxpayer Advocate Service at 1-877-777-4778.

Paperwork Reduction Act Notice

The Paperwork Reduction Act requires that the IRS display an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number on all public information requests. The OMB Control Number for this study is 1545-1432. Also, if you have any comments regarding the time estimates associated with this study or suggestions on making this process simpler, please write to the: Internal Revenue Service, Tax Products Coordinating Committee, SE:W:CAR:MP:T:T:SP, 1111 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20224.

Thank you for completing the survey. Please return this questionnaire to ICF/Scantron, P.O. Box 64529, St. Paul, MN 55164-9614

Form 13423 (4-2011) Catalog Number 36121A www.irs.gov Department of the Treasury–Internal Revenue Service

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