Short Form

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 1545-2274)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: 2018 Taxpayer Experience Survey (TES) Triads

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this research is to better understand the reasons why taxpayers contact the IRS and the decision-making process for selecting an IRS service channel. A total of six focus group triads – small groups consisting of three to five participants – will be conducted with taxpayers who responded to the 2018 Taxpayer Experience Survey to learn about their experiences with IRS service channels and solicit suggestions on future service channel offerings.

The Taxpayer Experience Survey and Triads are part of an annual effort to survey taxpayers regarding their experiences filing their return with the IRS. Taken together, they are a premier source of information about the W&I taxpayer. The data will be used to improve taxpayer service.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

W&I Research has partnered with ICF (a Contractor) to conduct this research. The participants in these focus group triads are respondents to the 2018 Taxpayer Experience Survey that indicated they are willing to contacted regarding participating in follow-up research about their experiences with the IRS. Potential participants will be screened by ICF, and respondents with a variety of IRS experiences will be recruited to participate in the triads.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software [X] Small Discussion Group

[ ] Focus Group [ ] Other: _____________________

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name: Patti Davis-Smith

To assist review, please provide answers to the following questions:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [X] No

2. If Yes, will any information that is collected be included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No

3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

No PII will be collected. Discussion participants will not be identified in any of the documents or files used for this project. Further, no questions will be asked that are of a personal or sensitive nature, or require details regarding participants’ tax return or account.

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants?
[X] Yes [ ] No

The contractor will provide each participant a $75 incentive after the triad.

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden Hours
Max number of triad participants	30	60 minutes	30
Screener invitation	1,025	1 minute	17
Screener completion	300	2 minutes	10
Email Reminder #1	30	1 minute	.5
Informed Consent	30	2 minutes	1
Email Reminder #2	30	1 minute	.5
TOTAL			59

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is: $22,159

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [X] Yes [ ] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

ICF will recruit participants to participate in the focus group triads; the triad screener is attached.

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[X] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [X] Yes [ ] No

The triads will be facilitated by trained moderators employed by the Contractor. Each telephone focus group discussion will last approximately 60 minutes. At the beginning of the triad, the moderator will obtain verbal consent from each participant acknowledging his or her permission to participate in the discussion.

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

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