2017 Ss 1545-1978

4

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

Internal Revenue Service

Credits for Affected Disaster Area Employers

Form 5884-A

OMB Number 1545-1978

63216. CIRCUMSTANCES NECESSITATING COLLECTION OF INFORMATION

Form 5884-A is used to figure the employee retention credit that an eligible employer who conducted an active trade or business in the Hurricane Harvey, Irma, or Maria disaster zones may claim. The credit is equal to 40 percent of qualified wages for each eligible employee (up to a maximum of $6,000 in qualified wages per employee).

63217. USE OF DATA

The information is used by employers and the IRS to determine whether the employee retention credit is available.

63218. USE OF IMPROVED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO REDUCE BURDEN

The IRS is currently offering electronic filing on Form 5884-A.

63219. EFFORTS TO IDENTIFY DUPLICATION

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

63220. METHODS TO MINIMIZE BURDEN ON SMALL BUSINESSES OR OTHER SMALL ENTITIES

We have attempted to minimize burden on small businesses or other small entities by closely following previous revisions of this form.

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

If the IRS did not collect this information, the taxpayer and IRS would not have the information to determine whether the credit is appropriate. A less frequent collection of taxes and tax information could adversely affect the government’s effectiveness and would reduce the oversight of the public in ensuring compliance with Internal Revenue Code and hinder the IRS from meeting its mission.

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 TD 9187

In response to the Federal Register notice dated January 29, 2017 (83 FR 4129), we received no comments during the comment period regarding these regulations.

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

No payment or gift has been provided to any respondents.

9. ASSURANCE OF CONFIDENTIALITY OF RESPONSES

Generally, tax returns and tax return information are confidential as required by 26 USC 6103.

9. JUSTIFICATION OF SENSITIVE QUESTIONS

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 Treas/IRS 24.046 BMF and Treas/IRS 34.047

Audit Trail and Security Records System. The Internal Revenue Service PIAs 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.

9. ESTIMATED BURDEN OF INFORMATION COLLECTION

Authorizing Statute	Description	# Respondents	# Responses Per Respondent- Approximate	Total Annual Responses	Hours Per Response	Total Burden
P.L. 115-63, Section 503,	Form 5884-A Credits for Affected Disaster Area Employers	250,000	1	250,000	3 hrs., 2 min.	760,000

The individual filer burden is reported under 1545-0074 and the business filer burden is reported under 1545-0123. The above burden is for all other filers.

9. 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 have been no changes to the form that would affect burden.

	Requested	Program Change Due to New Statute	Program Change Due to Agency Discretion	Change Due to Adjustment in Agency Estimate	Change Due to Potential Violation of the PRA	Previously Approved
Annual Number of Responses for this IC	250,000	0	0	0	0	250,000
Annual IC Time Burden (Hours)	760,000	0	0	0	0	760,000

15. PLANS FOR TABULATION, STATISTICAL ANALYSIS AND PUBLICATION

There are no plans for tabulation, statistical analysis, and publication.

15. REASONS WHY DISPLAYING THE OMB EXPIRATION DATE IS INAPPROPRIATE

We believe the public interest will be better served by not printing an expiration date on the form(s) in this package.

Printing the expiration date on the form will result in increased costs because of the need to replace inventories that become obsolete by passage of the expiration date each time OMB approval is renewed. Without printing the expiration date, supplies of the form could continue to be used.

The time period during which the current edition of the form(s) in this package will continue to be usable cannot be predicted. It could easily span several cycles of review and OMB clearance renewal. In addition, usage fluctuates unpredictably. This makes it necessary to maintain a substantial inventory of forms in the supply line at all times. This includes supplies owned by both the Government and the public. Reprinting of the form cannot be reliably scheduled to coincide with an OMB approval expiration date. This form may be privately printed by users at their own expense. Some businesses print complex and expensive marginally punched continuous versions, at their expense, for use in their computers. The form may be printed by commercial printers and stocked for sale. In such cases, printing the expiration date on the form could result in extra costs to the users.

Not printing the expiration date on the form(s) will also avoid confusion among taxpayers who may have identical forms with different expiration dates in their possession.

For the above reasons we request authorization to omit printing the expiration date on the form(s) in this package.

15. EXCEPTIONS TO THE CERTIFICATION STATEMENT

There are no exceptions to the certification statement.

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.