2019_ss_1545-0007

4

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

Form T

Forest Activities Schedule

OMB Number 1545-0007

55408. CIRCUMSTANCES NECESSITATING COLLECTION OF INFORMATION

Form T (Timber), Forest Activities Schedule, is used to provide information on timber accounts when a sale or deemed sale under sections 631(a), 631(b), or other exchange has occurred during the tax year. Form T is filed on an annual basis. Individuals file Form T to report income and deductions from the operation of a timber business.

55409. USE OF DATA

The IRS uses Form T to determine if the correct amount of income is reported. The IRS also uses Form T to determine if the proper amount of deductions are claimed.

55410. USE OF IMPROVED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO REDUCE BURDEN

Form T is available for electronic filing.

55411. EFFORTS TO IDENTIFY DUPLICATION

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

55412. 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

The information required is needed to verify compliance with Sections 631(a) and 631(b), of the Internal Revenue Code of the Treasury Regulations. 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

In response to the Federal Register notice dated September 10, 2019 (84 FR 47635), 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 “Individual Master File” (IMF), 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. 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.

This is an attachment to the Federal tax return. The Privacy Act statement associated with this attachment is listed in the Federal tax return instructions.

9. ESTIMATED BURDEN OF INFORMATION COLLECTION

Individuals file Form T to report income and deductions from the operation of a timber business when a sale or deemed sale under sections 631(a), 631(b), or other exchange has occurred. It is estimated that 10 individuals will file this form, and that it will take approximately 36.18 to complete, for an estimated total of 362 annual burden hours.

Form	Description	# Respondents	# Responses Per Respondent	Total Annual Responses	Hours Per Response	Total Burden
Form T (Tinder)	Forest Activities Schedule	10	1	10	36.18	362
	Totals	10	1	10	36.18	362

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

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 T	$ 15,492		0		$ 15,492
Grand Total	$15,492		0		$15,492
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.

15. REASONS FOR CHANGE IN BURDEN

There are no changes being made to the form at this time. However, the agency is updating the estimated number of respondents based on the most recent filing data and creation of OMB numbers 1545-0074 and 1545-0123.

	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	10	0	0	-12,323	0	12,333
Annual IC Time Burden (Hours)	362	0	0	-445,846	0	446,208

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

The IRS believes that displaying the OMB expiration date is inappropriate because it could cause

confusion by leading taxpayers to believe that the form 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.