Short Form

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

T ITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:

Cognitive Pretesting of W&I Taxpayer Experience Survey (TES)

PURPOSE:

The objective of this task is to test English and Spanish versions of the Taxpayer Experience Survey.

The key goals of this research are:

1. To test the Taxpayer Experience Survey

2. To identify improvements that can be made to the survey prior to administering it.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

W&I Taxpayers

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

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

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

[ ] Focus Group [x ] Other: Pretesting of survey______________________

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:___C. Jeffery McConnell_________________________

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

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

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 a $40 stipend to each pretest participant.

The justification for this is that without it, the contractor may not be able to attract subjects to participate in this study. Offering incentives for participating in this type of research is a standard industry practice.

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent (English)	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden Hours
Recruitment Screening – Non-participants	725	0 minutes	0
Recruitment Screening – Qualified Participants	199	3 minutes	9.95
Cognitive Interview English	20	60 minutes	20
Totals			29.95 hrs

Category of Respondent (Spanish)	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden Hours
Recruitment Screening – Non-participants	590	0 minutes	0
Recruitment Screening – Qualified Participants	57	3 minutes	2.85
Cognitive Interview Spanish	8	60 minutes	8
Totals			10.85 hrs

Total Burden Hours: 40.8

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is _$4,000_____

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?

The contractor will recruit participants for the survey pretest and will be responsible for establishing procedures for data collection. The contractor will prepare the data and conduct data analysis in accordance with accepted industry standard procedures.

The contractor will conduct a pretest by telephone to ensure that respondents understand the questions correctly and clearly, and to test the flow of the question set. The contractor will interview 28 participants for the test; that quantity is sufficient to uncover deficiencies in comprehension without incurring additional costs. Taxpayers will be identified from either pre-recruited participants who have agreed to participate in future research, and/or by purchased lists that the contractor will acquire from Survey Sampling, a well-regarded sampling source with U.S. household contacts. During the pretest, the contractor will note hesitation points and questions that respondents experienced difficulty answering. The contractor will also ask question probes following specific questions or question sections, such as “Was that easy or hard to answer?” “What does the term xyz mean to you?” and “Was there anything difficult in this section for you to answer?” The IRS will be able to listen to the pretest interviews. The pretest also provides an opportunity to ‘close up’ any new open-ended questions, which reduces coding costs. The contractor will review findings with the IRS and make adjustments to the final questionnaire based on pretest results as needed.

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

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

Instructions for completing Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback”

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Provide the name of the collection that is the subject of the request. (e.g. Comment card for soliciting feedback on xxxx)

PURPOSE: Provide a brief description of the purpose of this collection and how it will be used. If this is part of a larger study or effort, please include this in your explanation.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Provide a brief description of the targeted group or groups for this collection of information. These groups must have experience with the program.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: Check one box. If you are requesting approval of other instruments under the generic, you must complete a form for each instrument.

CERTIFICATION: Please read the certification carefully. If you incorrectly certify, the collection will be returned as improperly submitted or it will be disapproved.

Personally Identifiable Information: Provide answers to the questions. Note: Agencies should only collect PII to the extent necessary, and they should only retain PII for the period of time that is necessary to achieve a specific objective.

Gifts or Payments: If you answer yes to the question, please describe the incentive and provide a justification for the amount.

BURDEN HOURS:

Category of Respondents: Identify who you expect the respondents to be in terms of the following categories: (1) Individuals or Households; (2) Private Sector; (3) State, local, or tribal governments; or (4) Federal Government. Only one type of respondent can be selected per row.

No. of Respondents: Provide an estimate of the Number of Respondents.

Participation Time: Provide an estimate of the amount of time (in minutes) required for a respondent to participate (e.g. fill out a survey or participate in a focus group)

Burden: Provide the Annual burden hours: Multiply the Number of Respondents and the Participation Time then divide by 60.

FEDERAL COST: Provide an estimate of the annual cost to the Federal government.

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. Please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them. If the answer is yes, to the first question, you may provide the sampling plan in an attachment.

Administration of the Instrument: Identify how the information will be collected. More than one box may be checked. Indicate whether there will be interviewers (e.g. for surveys) or facilitators (e.g., for focus groups) used.

Submit all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

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