A11-20-16 Appeals Survey Supporting Statement 2021

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for Improving Customer Experience: OMB Circular A-11, Section 280 Implementation”

(OMB Control Number: 1545-2290)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Appeals Customer Satisfaction Survey

PURPOSE OF COLLECTION:

What are you hoping to learn / improve? How do you plan to use what you learn? Are there artifacts (user personas, journey maps, digital roadmaps, summary of customer insights to inform service improvements, performance dashboards) the data from this collection will feed?

Appeals conducts a customer satisfaction survey as one measure to assess the service it is providing to the more than 70,000 taxpayers who enter the appeals process each year. The survey has historically been administered to a sample of taxpayers with closed appeals cases. Many taxpayers use a tax professional to represent their case and, in those instances, the survey is administered to the tax representative. The results of this survey allow Appeals to assess customer satisfaction with their experience and make informed service improvements.

TYPE OF ACTIVITY: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Research (Interview, Focus Groups)

[X] Customer Feedback Survey

[ ] User Testing

ACTIVITY DETAILS

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. Who will you collect the information from?

Explain who will be interviewed and why the group is appropriate for the Federal program / service to connect with. Please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and if only a sample will be solicited for feedback, how you will select them(e.g., anyone who provided an email address to a call center rep, a representative sample of Veterans who received outpatient services in May 2019, do you have a list of customers to reach out to (e.g., a CRM database that has the contact information, intercept interviews at a particular field office?)

Appeals will conduct a quarterly web survey with telephone follow-ups from a sample of customers with closed cases.

3. How will you ask a respondent to provide this information?

(e.g., after an application is submitted online, the final screen will present the opportunity to provide feedback by presenting a link to a feedback form / an actual feedback form)

After selecting customers from a quarterly sample of closed cases, Appeals will mail them a prenotification letter introducing them to the Appeals survey and inviting them to take the survey online. The letter will contain a web link to the survey and a unique password. A few weeks after web collection has started, telephone follow-ups are made to non-responders where respondents have the option to take the survey over the phone with an ICF interviewer.

4. What will the activity look like?

Describe the information collection activity – e.g. what happens when a person agrees to participate? Will facilitators or interviewers be used? What’s the format of the interview/focus group? If a survey, describe the overall survey layout/length/other details? If User Testing, what actions will you observe / how will you have respondents interact with a product you need feedback on?

The web survey consists of 15 questions which include the A-11 required questions as well as Appeals specific questions on respondents’ experiences with the appeals process. The telephone follow-up is a CATI survey administered by an IRS cleared ICF interviewer.

5. Please provide your question list.

Include as an attachment the questions or prompts presented to participants in your activity. Make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

Attached

6. When will the activity happen?

Describe the time frame or number of events that will occur (e.g., We will conduct focus groups on May 13,14,15, We plan to conduct customer intercept interviews over the course of the Summer at the field offices identified in response to #2 based on scheduling logistics concluding by Sept. 10^th, or “This survey will remain on our website in alignment with the timing of the overall clearance.”)

The survey will be conducted in three “waves”. The first wave will include sampled participants who closed cases between October 2020 and March 2021. The first wave will launch in early fall of 2021. The second wave will include sampled participants who closed cases between May 2021 and June 2021. The second wave will launch in the late fall of 2021. The third wave will include sampled participants who closed cases between July 2021 and September 2021. The third wave will launch in the winter of 2021.

7. Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants?

[ ] Yes [X] No

If Yes, describe:

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden Hours
Individuals	1665	5 minutes	139
Totals

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collections are voluntary;

2. The collections are low-burden for respondents (based on considerations of total burden hours or burden-hours per respondent) and are low-cost for both the respondents and the Federal Government;

3. The collections are non-controversial and do not raise issues of concern to other Federal agencies;

4. Any 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 near future;

5. Personally identifiable information (PII) is collected only to the extent necessary and is not retained;

6. Information gathered is intended to be used for general service improvement and program management purposes; and,

7. Information gathered will only be shared publically in the manner described in the umbrella clearance of this control number.

Name: _____Frank Kowalkowski _________________________________

All instruments used to collect information must include:

OMB Control No. 1545-2290

Expiration Date: 07/31/2023

Sample PRA statement:

This report is authorized under the Paperwork Reduction Act.  The approval is OMB No: 1545-2290, expiration date 7/31/2023. Data collected will be shared with IRS staff, but your responses will be used for research and aggregate reporting purposes only and will not be used for other non-statistical or non-research purposes such as direct enforcement activities. The information that you provide will fully be protected as allowable under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 5 minutes. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Special Services Section, SE:W:CAR:MP:T:M:S, Room 6129, 1111 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20224.

HELP SHEET

(OMB Control Number: XXXX-XXXX)

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.

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: 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.

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 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 responses and the participation time and divide by 60.

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