2018-11-27_SS_1545-1815rCD

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

Internal Revenue Service

Form 5498-ESA (Coverdell ESA Contribution Information)

OMB #1545-1815

1. CIRCUMSTANCES NECESSITATING COLLECTION OF INFORMATION

This form is used by trustees or issuers of Coverdell Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) to report contributions and rollovers to these accounts to the beneficiaries. The accounts were previously designated as Education IRAs and were reported on Form 5498. P.L. 107-22, codified in IRC section 530, re-titled them as Coverdell ESAs.

2. USE OF DATA

The data reported on this form is to be used by beneficiaries to track contributions and to determine if excess contributions have been made.

3. USE OF IMPROVED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO REDUCE BURDEN

We are currently offering electronic filing on Form

5498-ESA.

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 on federal programs or policy activities would result in ineligible beneficiaries reporting inaccurate contributions or excessive contributions.

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

In response to the Federal Register notice dated

September 11, 2018 (83 FR 46020), we received no comments during the comment period regarding Form 5498-ESA.

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

No payment or gift has been provided to 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

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.

12. 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
P.L. 107-22 Sec 530	Form 5498-ESA	298,500	1	298,500	.12	35,820
Totals				298,500		35,820

Publication 6961 – Calendar Year Projections of Information and Withholding Documents for the United States and IRS Campuses – was used to retrieve the 2019 Annual Number of Responses (Filers)- 298,500. Instruction to Form 1099 included burden estimate for Form 5498 of 7 minutes or .12 hours.

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

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:

15. REASONS FOR CHANGE IN BURDEN

	Requested	Change Due to Adjustment in Agency Estimate	Previously Approved
Annual Number of Responses	298,500	-88,100	386,600
Annual Time Burden (Hr.)	35,820	-10,572	46,392

The annual number of responses decreased due to a change in the agency estimate based on Publication 6961, Calendar Year Projections of Information and Withholding Documents for the United States and IRS Campuses. This publication indicated an estimated number of annual responses of 298,500 for 2019. This was a decrease of 88,100 responses from the previously approved annual number of responses of 386,600. As a result of the decrease in the annual number of responses, the annual time burden decreased by 10,572 hours (46,392 hours to 35,820 hours).

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

IRS believes that displaying the OMB expiration date is inappropriate because it could cause confusion by leading taxpayers to believe that the regulation 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 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.

5