2019 Supporting Statement 1545-1979

Supporting Statement
Internal Revenue Service
(Form 8908)
Energy Efficient Home Credit
OMB # 1545-1979

1.

CIRCUMSTANCES NECESSITATING COLLECTION OF INFORMATION
Congress passed Public Law 109-58, the Energy Policy Act of
2005, on August 8, 2005, enacting legislation providing a
tax credit for contractors producing new energy efficient
homes.
We created Form 8908 to reflect new code section 45L which
allows qualified contractors to claim a credit for each
qualified energy-efficient home sold. Eligible contractors
use Form 8908 to claim a credit for each qualified energy
efficient home sold or leased to another person during the
tax year for use as a residence. The credit ($2,000 or
$1,000) is based on the energy saving requirements of the
home. The credit is part of the general business credit.
Taxpayers other than partnerships or
only source of this credit is from a
are not required to complete or file
they can report this credit directly

2.

S corporations, whose
pass-through entity,
this form. Instead,
on Form 3800.

USE OF DATA
The IRS will use Form 8908 to monitor and validate claims
for the new energy efficient home credit for homes. Eligible
contractors may claim the credit for new energy efficient
homes that are acquired by sale or lease by an individual
from that contractor during the tax year for use as a
residence.

3.

USE OF IMPROVED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO REDUCE BURDEN
There are no plans to provide electronic filing because
electronic filing is not appropriate for the collection of
information in this submission due to the requirement to
attach the document of record.

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 collection of information requirement will not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities.

6.

CONSEQUENCES OF LESS FREQUENT COLLECTION ON FEDERAL PROGRAMS
OR POLICY ACTIVITIES
If the IRS did not collect this information, the IRS would
not be able to monitor and validate claims for the new
energy efficient home credit for homes, which will allow
qualified contractors to claim a credit for each qualified
energy-efficient home sold.

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 November
21, 2019 (84 FR 64408), we received no comments during the
comment period regarding Form 8908.

9.

EXPLANATION OF DECISION TO PROVIDE ANY PAYMENT OR GIFT TO
RESPONDENTS
No payment or gift will be provided to any
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
No personally identifiable information (PII) is collected.

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12.

ESTIMATED BURDEN OF INFORMATION COLLECTION
The burden estimate is as follows:

Authority

Description

# of
Respondents

IRC §45L

Form 8908

198,000

Totals

#Responses
per
Respondent

Annual
Responses

Hours per
Response

Total
Burden

1

198,000

2.59

512,820

198,000

512,820

Estimates of the annualized cost to respondents for the
hour burdens shown are not available at this time.
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.

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The government cost estimate for this collection is
summarized in the table below.
Government Cost
Aggregate Cost per
Printing and
Estimate per
Product
Product (factor applied)
Distribution
Product
Form 8908
30,073
0
30,073
Form Instructions
2,734
0
2,734
Grand Total
32,807
0
32,807
Table costs are based on 2018 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 is no change in the paperwork burden previously
approved by OMB. This form is being submitted for renewal
purposes only.

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 form sunsets as of the
expiration date. Taxpayers are not likely to be aware that
the IRS 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

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26 U.S.C. 6103.