Short Form

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 1545-2256)

T ITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: IRS.gov Customer Needs

PURPOSE: This project is part of the SWAT initiative undertaken between OLS and OEOM, specifically to address Customer Needs for the redesign of IRS.gov. Five large audience categories have been identified: Taxpayers, Tax Professionals, Businesses, Tax Exempt/Government, and Informational. The Business, Tax Exempt/Government, and Informational categories have been prioritized for this research initiative.

Deliverables from this work will include user personas from each of the audience categories.

The study will be conducted as up to 150 one-on-one moderated phone interviews, lasting approximately 30 minutes each. Participation is voluntary and anonymous, and no personally identifiable information will be collected.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Representative audience members from each of the three large categories (Business, Tax Exempt/Government, and Informational). Each category will be broken down into smaller segments to ensure a cross-section of customers are included in the study. Examples of smaller segments include Small vs. Large Businesses (based on annual revenue), Self-Employed Business Owners, Global High Wealth Individuals, US-based vs. International Businesses, Farmers, Small vs. Large Tax-Exempt Organizations (based on total assets), Government Entities (including Federal, State, Local, Indian Nation, and Foreign), Media, Policy, and Advocacy.

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: _One-on-one interviews ____

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: Alcora Walden, [email protected]

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

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

Participants will be paid between $75 and $100 for their time.

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Interviews – Recruiting	250	5 minutes	20.8 hours
Interviews – Participants	225	30 minutes	112.5 hours
Totals			133.3 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $22,500

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? [ ] 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?

We plan to use a variety of resources, including our respondent database, social media, and online community boards to recruit for this research. We will strive to include approximately one-third of all respondents in each of three target categories: individual taxpayers, tax professionals, and businesses with tax record requests.

Administration of the Instrument

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

[ X ] 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.

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

4