2018 Business Taxpayer Burden Survey

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Business Taxpayer Burden Survey

Your experience matters to us.

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Business Taxpayer Burden Survey
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the purpose of this survey?
The purpose of this survey is to measure what it costs
business taxpayers to comply with federal tax rules
and regulations. For most establishments, these costs
are a combination of time spent and out-of-pocket
expenses. Please be assured that you will not be
asked about the income or other financial details of
your business’s tax return.

If you own more than one business, please look at the
address label of this mailing to see which business was
randomly selected to receive this survey.

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How will my answers be used?
Please be assured that your responses will be used for
research and aggregate reporting purposes only and
will not be used for other non-statistical or non-research
purposes such as direct enforcement activities.

This questionnaire relates to the activities associated
with federal income tax compliance during the most
recent tax year as well as the preparation and filing
of your 2016 federal income tax return. It does NOT
include any other tax returns (i.e., employment, excise,
information returns, state and local, etc.) filed for the
same period. This includes any filings completed in the
12 months leading up to the filing of your business’s
2016 federal income tax return.

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How long will this survey take?
Public reporting burden for this collection of
information is estimated to average 15 to 20 minutes,
including the time for reviewing instructions, searching
existing data sources, gathering and maintaining
the data needed, and completing and reviewing the
collection of information.
Who can I contact with questions?
If you have questions about the content of this survey
please call Karen Stein at Westat by phone at 1-888450-8610 or send an email to [email protected]. If
you would like to speak to someone at the IRS, please
email Brenda Schafer at [email protected].

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Who should complete this survey?
The individual most responsible for maintaining the
financial records for your business or making the
financial and tax-related decisions for your business
should complete this questionnaire. You may need to
consult with others in your organization to complete the
survey and we encourage you to do so. This survey
concerns the time and costs spent by your business,
not the time and costs spent by your external service
provider if you had one. Please do not forward this
survey to your external service provider.

Why should I participate?
While participation is voluntary, information about
your business’s tax preparation experience will help
the IRS reduce taxpayer burden. We encourage you
to take a few minutes of your time to participate. By
doing so, you will make sure that businesses like
yours are represented.

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How was my business selected for this survey?
Your business was randomly selected from the millions of
businesses that filed a federal income tax return in 2016.

Web Survey Instructions

If you would prefer to complete the survey on the web, you may do so by following the instructions
below. Web responses are processed more quickly and will help ensure that you don’t receive
follow-up contacts.

Go to the website.

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1.

Log in.

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2.

To take the survey online, please go to:

You will need the following username
and password to access the survey:

Problems?

www.IRSBTBSurvey2016A.org
Username: [UID]
Password: [PWD]

If you have any technical difficulties, including problems with the website, please call 1-888-450-8610 or send
an email to [email protected].

Si usted desea contestar esta encuesta en español, por favor llame al
1-888-450-8610 o envie un correo electrónico a [email protected].

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Instructions:
Please use a black or blue pen to complete this form.
to indicate your answer.

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Mark

If you want to change your answer, darken the box

and mark the correct answer.

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Tax Preparation Methods And Activities

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This part of the survey collects general information about your business. Please answer
all questions with reference to the most recent tax return year. The most recent tax year
includes the 12 months leading up to the filing of your business's most recent federal
income tax return.

Did your business use…

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Mark all that apply.

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1. Which of the following methods did your business use to prepare its most recent federal
income tax return? Include activities done by owners, employees, and external service
providers.

A tax preparation service? (e.g., a CPA, accountant, bookkeeper, a tax lawyer, an enrolled
agent, registered tax preparer)
A tax advisory/planning service?

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Accounting and/or financial software? (e.g., QuickBooks Pro™, Peachtree Complete® )

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Tax preparation software? (e.g., Turbo Tax ® , CCH ® , OneSource™, CORPTAX,
custom software)
Owners or employees of your business?

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Any other method(s)? Please describe:

Form 14296-A (Rev. 12-2016)

Catalog Number 62915E

irs.gov

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Department of the Treasury - Internal Revenue Service

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Business
employee
only

Activity

External
service
Not
provider
Both applicable
only

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A. Bookkeeping?

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2. In addition to preparation of your business's federal income tax return, which of the
following activities did your business engage in (as part of its internal operations rather
than as services provided to clients) during the most recent tax year? Please check the
corresponding box if the activity was performed by an employee of your business
(including owners) and/or an external service provider. If both performed a particular
activity, check "Both" for that activity.

C. Individual income tax preparation for owners or
partners of your business?
D. Pre-tax fringe benefits? (e.g., pension plan, health
care benefits)

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Tax-Related Recordkeeping

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E. Other activities? Please describe:

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B. Estimated income tax payments?

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Please think about your business's recordkeeping activities, specifically tax-related
recordkeeping. Tax-related recordkeeping includes all the activities your business did
to create, maintain, and store records needed to complete its federal, state, and local
tax returns. In this section we are going to discuss the records you maintain for federal
income tax purposes.

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3. Which of the following statements describe the accounting or bookkeeping system
your business used during the most recent tax year?
Did your business...

Yes

No

Don't
know

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A. Use an off-the-shelf accounting and financial software system such as
QuickBooks Pro™, Peachtree Complete®, MYOB Business Essentials?

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B. Use general recordkeeping software products such as Microsoft ® Office,
IBM Notes, OpenOffice?
C. Maintain a hard-copy ledger to record business transactions?
D. Use any other accounting or bookkeeping system during the most recent
tax year? Please describe:

Form 14296-A (Rev. 12-2016)

Catalog Number 62915E

irs.gov

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Department of the Treasury - Internal Revenue Service

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Gathering Materials, Learning About Tax Law, And Using IRS Taxpayer Services

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Consider the tax-related materials your business gathered and how your business learned
about tax laws in order to complete its federal income tax return and comply with federal
income tax obligations.
4. During the most recent tax year, did you or others at your business obtain forms,
publications, or other materials from...

Yes

No

No

Don't
know

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Source

Don't
know

A. The IRS website?

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B. An IRS walk-in office?

C. By ordering them from the IRS either via mail or telephone?

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5. During the most recent tax year, did you or others at your business…

Yes

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Activity

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A. Review IRS tax forms and publications in preparation for completing your
business's federal income tax return or in deciding to hire an external service
provider?

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B. Attend tax seminars/training to learn about federal income tax issues?

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6. Sometimes people contact the IRS for reasons other than obtaining forms and
publications. During the most recent tax year, did you or others at your business
(please exclude external service providers) interact with the IRS via any of the
following channels for reasons OTHER than obtaining forms and publications?
Do not include form filing or making estimated payments.

Activity

Yes

No

Don't
know

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A. Obtain e-file assistance from the IRS?
B. Call the IRS Toll Free Tax Assistance Line?
C. Go to an IRS walk-in site?
D. Use the IRS website?
E. Correspond with the IRS via e-mail or regular mail?

Form 14296-A (Rev. 12-2016)

Catalog Number 62915E

irs.gov

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Department of the Treasury - Internal Revenue Service

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Time Spent On Income Tax-Related Activities

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7. As mentioned in the FAQs, the purpose of this survey is to measure what it costs
business taxpayers to comply with federal income tax rules and regulations. For most
establishments, these costs are a combination of time spent and out-of-pocket expenses
(e.g., fees paid to external service providers, software costs). In the next few sections we
will ask for estimates of these costs.
The next three questions focus on the time spent on activities related to filing your
business's federal income tax return.

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Think about all the time your business spent on tax-related recordkeeping, tax planning,
gathering tax-related materials, learning about tax law, using IRS or non-IRS resources,
completing, reviewing, and submitting your 2016 federal income tax return, and
calculating and depositing estimated tax payments.
Please include:

Please do NOT include:

 Time spent on your federal income tax

 Time spent on state or local income tax
returns

 Time spent on employment tax returns
and payroll activities

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 Time throughout the tax year as well as
the tax filing season

provider(s)

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return as well as any associated forms,
schedules, and worksheets that you
completed or filed

 Time spent by your external service

 Time spent corresponding with your
external service provider(s)

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 Time spent on excise tax
 Time spent on foreign tax
 Time spent on information returns
 Time spent on individual income tax returns
for owners, partners, or shareholders

 Time spent on retirement and pension-related

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activities

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7A. How many TOTAL hours did your business spend performing tax reporting compliancerelated activities for the 2016 tax year? For example, tax-related recordkeeping, tax
planning, gathering tax-related materials, learning about tax law, using IRS or non-IRS
resources, completing, reviewing, and submitting your business's 2016 federal income
tax return, and calculating and depositing estimated tax payments.

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We encourage you to consult your records or others in your business, if necessary. If
these resources are unavailable, please provide your best, most accurate estimate.

:
Hours

Form 14296-A (Rev. 12-2016)

Catalog Number 62915E

Minutes

irs.gov

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Department of the Treasury - Internal Revenue Service

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7B. How would you distribute the hours reported in question 7A across each of the following
tax-related activities? (Parts 1 - 6 should add up to the total number of hours reported in
question 7A.) Please note that these hours are for in-house staff only, not any external
service providers.

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1. Tax recordkeeping, including reconciling financial and tax
records?

Hours

Minutes

:

2. Tax planning?

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3. Gathering materials, learning about tax law, and using IRS or
non-IRS resources?

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Hours

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:

Hours

Minutes

:

4. Calculating and depositing estimated income tax payments?

Hours

Minutes

:

5. Completing and submitting your federal income tax return?

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Hours

6. All other income tax-related activities? Please describe:

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Minutes

Minutes

:
Hours

Minutes

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7C. How would you distribute the hours reported in question 7A across each of the different
types of individuals listed below? (Total hours reported in parts 1 - 4 below should add
up to the total number of hours reported in question 7A.)
Note: Please do not include hours spent by any external service providers.

:

1. Owner(s) or executives?

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Hours

:

2. In-house professionals or managers?

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Hours

Minutes

:

3. Clerical or administrative staff?
Hours

4. Other types of employees? Please describe:

Catalog Number 62915E

Minutes

:
Hours

Form 14296-A (Rev. 12-2016)

Minutes

irs.gov

5

Minutes

Department of the Treasury - Internal Revenue Service

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7D. Based on your responses in question 7C, what is the average hourly pay rate for all
individuals in your business who are responsible for federal income tax-related activities?

$

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Important: If you don’t know the hourly pay rates for all of the individuals listed in
question 7C, please enter your best estimate of the average hourly pay rate.

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Dollars

Cents

Don't know

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Fees Associated With Tax Compliance

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Please think about how much money your business spent to comply with its tax
obligations. Costs associated with tax compliance are a very important part of assessing
burden, so please provide the most accurate estimate you can.

8A. Total fee(s) paid to external service providers
for tax and tax-related services?
If no money was spent on external service
providers  Please skip to question 9.

$

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8. How much did your business pay all external service providers for tax and tax-related
services received during the most recent tax year?

$

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Cents

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Dollars

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8B. Of the amount in 8A, how much was spent
exclusively for federal income tax planning?

8C. Of the amount in 8A, how much was spent
exclusively for federal income tax return
preparation?

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Dollars

$

Cents

.
Cents

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Dollars

9. How much money, if any, did your business spend during the most recent tax year on
tax-specific software?

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Note: Include any costs your business may have incurred for annual maintenance and
updates.

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Total money spent on all tax-specific software? (e.g., Turbo Tax ®, CCH ® , OneSource™, CORPTAX,
custom software)

$

.
Dollars

Cents

No money spent on
tax-specific software
Don't know
Form 14296-A (Rev. 12-2016)

Catalog Number 62915E

irs.gov

6

Department of the Treasury - Internal Revenue Service

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10. If applicable, how much money was spent on other business-related tax activities not
included in questions 8 and 9 for the most recent tax year? This may include money
spent on electronic submission, photocopies, tax research services, tax publications
and journals, transportation, postage, or IRS user fees.
Note: Do NOT include money your business spent on external service provider(s), tax
software, or employee compensation.
10A.

Total money spent on all other business-related
tax activities?

$

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Cents

Dollars

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Cents

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Import And Export Activities

$

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Of the amount in 10A, how much was spent
exclusively for your business's most recent
federal income tax return?

10B.

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Dollars

During the most recent tax year, did your business prepare documents for use by
United States or foreign customs authorities related to taxes and duties for...

11A.

Imports into the United States?

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11.

No

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Yes

11B.

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Don't know

Exports from the United States?
Yes

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No

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Don't know

Form 14296-A (Rev. 12-2016)

Catalog Number 62915E

irs.gov

7

Department of the Treasury - Internal Revenue Service

59353

Additional Questions
On average, how many full-time and part-time employees, if any, did your business
have during the most recent tax year? Please include partners or owners, but do not
include any independent contractors. Independent contractors are workers who are
not treated as employees for employment tax purposes.

12A.

How many full-time employees?

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12.

Don't know
12B.

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How many part-time employees?

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Don't know
13.

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How many state income tax returns did your business file during the most recent tax year?

Don't know
14.

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Number of returns

None

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1

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How many people, if any, helped you answer the questions on this survey?

2
3

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4 or more

Form 14296-A (Rev. 12-2016)

Catalog Number 62915E

irs.gov

8

Department of the Treasury - Internal Revenue Service

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Thank you for completing our survey.

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Privacy and Paperwork Reduction Act Notice for Business Taxpayer Burden Model Data Collection

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The Privacy Act of 1974 states that when we ask you for information, we must first tell you our legal right to
ask for the information, why we are asking for it, and how it will be used. We must also tell you what could
happen if you do not provide it and whether or not you must respond under the law.
Our legal right to ask for this information is 5 U.S.C. 301.

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The primary purpose for requesting the information is to analyze the role of taxpayer burden in tax
administration. We will also use the information to fulfill the IRS’ statutory obligations to the Office of
Management and Budget and Congress for information required by the Paperwork Reduction Act, and to
provide tax policy analysis support to the Office of Tax Analysis at the Department of the Treasury. We will
also use the information provided to better understand taxpayer needs and burden reduction opportunities.

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Tax information may be disclosed only as provided by 26 U.S.C. 6103. Providing the information is voluntary.
Not providing all or part of the information requested may reduce our ability to address taxpayer concerns
regarding paperwork reduction.

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OMB No: 1545-2212. This report is authorized under the Paperwork Reduction Act. Data collected will be shared with
IRS staff, but your responses will be used for research and aggregate reporting purposes only and will not be used for
other non-statistical or non-research purposes such as direct enforcement activities. The information that you provide
will be protected to the fullest extent allowable under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Public reporting burden
for this collection of information is estimated to average 15 to 20 minutes, including the time for reviewing instructions,
searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the
collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of
information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Special Services Section,SE:W:CAR:MP:T:M:S, Room
6129, 1111 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20224.

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