2018-02-28_SS_1545-1649r

6

Internal Revenue Service

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

OMB 1545-1649

(Revenue Procedure 99-21)

Disability Suspension

1. CIRCUMSTANCES NECESSITATING COLLECTION OF INFORMATION

Under section 6511(h) of the Internal Revenue Code (which was added by section 3203 of the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998), the statute of limitations on claims for credit or refund is suspended for any period of an individual taxpayer’s life during which the taxpayer is unable to manage his or her financial affairs because of a medically determinable mental or physical impairment, if the impairment can be expected to result in death, or has lasted (or can be expected to last) for a continuous period of not less than 12 months. Section 6511(h)(2)(A) requires that proof of the taxpayer’s financial disability be furnished to the Internal Revenue Service.

The collections of information in this revenue procedure are in section 4 of the revenue procedure. Section 4 provides that in order for a person to claim that an individual taxpayer was financially disabled for purposes of § 6511(h), the following statements are to be submitted to the IRS with the claim for credit or refund of tax:

(1) a written statement by a physician (as defined in § 1861(r)(1) of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1395x(r)), qualified to make the determination that sets forth:

(a) the name and a description of the taxpayer’s physical or mental impairment;

(b) the physician’s medical opinion that the physical or mental impairment prevented the taxpayer from managing the taxpayer’s financial affairs;

(c) the physician’s medical opinion that the physical or mental impairment was or can be expected to result in death, or that it has lasted (or can be expected to last) for a continuous period of not less than 12 months;

(d) to the best of the physician’s knowledge, the specific time period during which the taxpayer was prevented by such physical or mental impairment from managing the taxpayer’s financial affairs; and

(e) the following certification, signed by the physician:

I hereby certify that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, the above representations are true, correct, and complete.

(2) a written statement by the person signing the claim for credit or refund that no person, including the taxpayer's spouse, was authorized to act on behalf of the taxpayer in financial matters during the period described in paragraph (1)(d) of this section. Alternatively, if a person was authorized to act on behalf of the taxpayer in financial matters during any part of the period described in paragraph (1)(d), the beginning and ending dates of the period of time the person was so authorized.

2. USE OF DATA

The collections of information in this revenue procedure are in section 4 of the revenue procedure. This information is required by the I.R.S. to determine whether the statute of limitations on claims for credit or refund is suspended for any period of an individual taxpayer’s life due to the taxpayer’s financial disability.

3. USE OF IMPROVED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO REDUCE BURDEN

IRS Publications, Regulations, Notices and Letters are to be electronically enabled on an as practicable basis in accordance with the IRS Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998. IRS intends to offer electronic filing to the extent it is practicable however in this case it isn’t practicable because of the evaluative nature of the determination.

4. EFFORTS TO IDENTIFY DUPLICATION

The information obtained through this collection is unique and is not already available for use or adaptation from another source.

5. METHODS TO MINIMIZE BURDEN ON SMALL BUSINESSES OR OTHER SMALL ENTITIES

There is no burden on small businesses or entities by this collection due to the inapplicability of the authorizing statute to this type of entity.

6. CONSEQUENCES OF LESS FREQUENT COLLECTION ON FEDERAL PROGRAMS OR POLICY ACTIVITIES

Consequences of less frequent collection would result in the IRS not being able to verify the requirements for qualifications of whether the statute of limitations on claims for credit or refund is suspended for any period of an individual taxpayer’s life due to the taxpayer’s financial disability.

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

Revenue Procedure 99-21 was published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin on April 26, 1999 (1999-17 IRB 18).

In response to the Federal Register notice dated October 17, 2017 (82 FR 48314), we received one comment during the comment period regarding Revenue Procedure 99-21, from the University of Baltimore Low Income Taxpayer Clinic. The comments requested changes to the rules for who can sign the statement included with the claim for credit or refund, to the information that must be included on the statement, and a request to provide a template for statements. The substantive changes require input from various IRS stakeholders before changes are made. Due to the extent of the changes, we have forwarded the comments to Chief Counsel for review. The request for a template will also be taken into consideration.

9. EXPLANATION OF DECISION TO PROVIDE ANY PAYMENT OR GIFT TO RESPONDENTS

No gifts or payments are being 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

Taxpayer physical or mental impairment information is required by the I.R.S. to determine whether the statute of limitations on claims for credit or refund is suspended for any period of an individual taxpayer’s life due to the taxpayer’s financial disability.

A privacy impact assessment (PIA) has been conducted for information collected under this request as part of the “Business Master file (BMF)” and a Privacy Act System of Records notice (SORN) has been issued for these systems under IRS 22.062 – Electronic Filing Records; IRS 24.030 – Customer Account Data Engine (CADE) Individual Master File; IRS 24.046 - CADE Business Master File (BMF); IRS 34.037 - IRS Audit Trail and Security Records System. The Internal Revenue Service PIA’s 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.

This is an attachment to the Federal tax return. The Privacy Act statement associated with this Form is listed in the Federal tax return instructions.

12. ESTIMATED BURDEN OF INFORMATION COLLECTION

The collection of information is in section 4 of this revenue procedure (see item 1 above).

We estimate that 24,100 individual taxpayers (or their representatives) and 24,100 physicians will file the information required in section 4 of the revenue procedure. Thus, the estimated number of respondents is 48,200. The estimated annual burden per respondent will vary from 15 minutes to 45 minutes, depending on individual circumstances, with an estimated average of 30 minutes. Thus, the estimated total annual reporting burden is 24,100 hours.

Estimates of the annualized cost to respondents for the hour burdens shown are not available at this time.

Authority	Number of responses	Time per response	Total burden hours
Section 6511(h)(2)(A)	Taxpayer 24,100	.5 hrs.	12,050
	Physician 24,100	.5 hrs.	12,050
Total	48,200		24,100

13. ESTIMATED TOTAL ANNUAL COST BURDEN TO RESPONDENTS

To ensure more accuracy and consistency across its information collections, IRS is currently in the process of revising the methodology it uses to estimate burden and costs. Once this methodology is complete, IRS will update this information collection to reflect a more precise estimate of burden and costs.

14. ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

To ensure more accuracy and consistency across its information collections, IRS is currently in the process of revising the methodology it uses to estimate burden and costs. Once this methodology is complete, IRS will update this information collection to reflect a more precise estimate of burden and costs.

15. REASONS FOR CHANGE IN BURDEN

There is no change in the paperwork burden previously approved by OMB. We are making this submission to renew the OMB approval.

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

We believe that displaying the OMB expiration date is inappropriate because it would cause confusion by leading taxpayers to believe that the revenue procedure sunsets as of the expiration date. Taxpayers are not likely to be aware that the Service intends to request renewal of the OMB approval and obtain a new expiration date before the old one expires.

18. EXCEPTIONS TO THE CERTIFICATION STATEMENT

There are no exceptions.

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.