2019-04-23_SS_1545-1772r

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SUPPORTING STATEMENT

Internal Revenue Service

User Fee for Employee Plan Determination, Opinion, and Advisory Letter

(Form 8717)

OMB # 1545-1772

1. CIRCUMSTANCES NECESSITATING COLLECTION OF INFORMATION

The Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1990 requires payment of a "user fee" with each application for a determination letter. Form 8717 and 8717-A were created to provide filers the means to enclose their payment and indicate what type of request they were making.

2. USE OF DATA

The information provided on the Form 8717 assist the IRS in both its processing of the money and application and as an indicator as to what type of service the filer is requesting.

3. USE OF IMPROVED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO REDUCE BURDEN

We have no plans at this time to offer electronic filing because of the low volume compared to the cost of electronic enabling.

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

The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001(EGTRRA) will minimize the burden on small businesses or other small entities. This is due to the fact that the new law (effective Jan. 1, 2002) lessens the likelihood that eligible employers (or sponsors of retirement programs) will have to pay a user fee within the first five years of a plan's existence (hopefully making the adoption of a retirement program less expensive and therefore more appealing).

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

Consequences of less frequent collection on the information provided on the Form 8717 would not assist the IRS in both its processing of the money and application and as an indicator as to what type of service the filer is requesting hindering 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 the 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

In response to the Federal Register Notice dated March 19, 2018 (83 FR 12080), we received no comments during the comment period regarding Form 8717.

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

No payment or gift has been provided to any respondents.

8. ASSURANCE OF CONFIDENTIALITY OF RESPONSES

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

8. JUSTIFICATION OF SENSITIVE QUESTIONS

A privacy impact assessment (PIA) has been conducted for information collected under this request as part of the “Individual Master File (IMF)” system and a Privacy Act System of Records notice (SORN) has been issued for this system under IRS 24.030--Customer Account Data Engine Individual Master File, formerly Individual Master File, and IRS 34.037--IRS Audit Trail and Security Records System. The Department of Treasury PIAs can be found at http://www.irs.gov//uac/privacyiimpact-assessments-PIAs/Pages/default.aspx .

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.

8. ESTIMATED BURDEN OF INFORMATION COLLECTION

The burden estimate is as follows:

Authority	Description	# of Respondents	# Responses per Respondent	Annual Responses	Hours per Response		Total Burden
Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1990	Form 8717	39000	1	39000	11.43		445,770
	Form 8717-A	1000	1	1000	3.57		3,570
Totals		40000	2	40000			449,340

8. 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.

8. ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

The Federal government cost estimate is based on a model that considers the following three cost factors for each information product: aggregate labor costs for development, including annualized start up expenses, operating and maintenance expenses, and distribution of the product that collects the information.

The government computes cost using a multi-step process. First, the government creates a weighted factor for the level of effort to create each information collection product based on variables such as; complexity, number of pages, type of product and frequency of revision. Second, the total costs associated with developing the product such as labor cost, and operating expenses associated with the downstream impact such as support functions, are added together to obtain the aggregated total cost. Then, the aggregated total cost and factor are multiplied together to obtain the aggregated cost per product. Lastly, the aggregated cost per product is added to the cost of shipping and printing each product to IRS offices, National Distribution Center, libraries and other outlets. The result is the Government cost estimate per product.

The government cost estimate for this collection is summarized in the table below.

Product	Aggregate Cost per Product (factor applied)		Printing and Distribution		Government Cost Estimate per Product
Form 8717	$ 11,917				$ 11,917
Form 8717-A	$ 10,924				$ 10,924
Grand Total	$22,841.00				$22,841.00
Table costs are based on 2016 actuals obtained from IRS Chief Financial Office and Media and Publications
* New product costs will be included in the next collection update.

8. PLANS FOR TABULATION, STATISTICAL ANALYSIS AND PUBLICATION

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

8. REASONS FOR CHANGE IN BURDEN

There is a change in the paperwork burden previously approved by OMB. The change is to include the burden associated with Form 8717-A.

	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	40,000	0	1,000	0	0	39,000
Annual Time Burden (Hr)	449,340	0	3,570	0	0	445,770

8. REASONS WHY DISPLAYING THE OMB EXPIRATION DATE IS INAPPROPRIATE

IRS believe that displaying the OMB expiration date is inappropriate because it could cause confusion by leading taxpayers to believe that the information collection will sunset 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 OMB approval expires.

8. 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.