SOI-614 AUR Non-Response Interviews 2024 - Supporting Statement

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 1545-1349)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:

Automated Underreporter (AUR) Non-Response Interviews - 2024

PURPOSE:

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) uses a balanced measurement system consisting of business results, taxpayer satisfaction, and employee satisfaction. The use of these balanced organizational performance measures is mandated by the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act (RRA) of 1998. In addition, Executive Order 12862 requires all government agencies to survey their taxpayers and to incorporate taxpayer experience data in process improvement efforts.

The Automated Underreporter (AUR) Non-Response interviews will be conducted in the Spring of 2024 to IRS customers who failed to respond to a CP2000 Notice and to a Statutory Notice of Deficiency. The in-depth interviews will be used to gather information about the Campus Examination AUR notification process. Results will be used to gain a deeper understanding of the customer experience and to determine how the IRS can better meet customer expectations and needs. With this knowledge, the IRS can potentially reduce the number of unresolved cases following issuance of a CP2000 Notice.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

Respondents for this study are IRS customers who recently received a CP2000 Notice, failed to respond, and subsequently received a Statutory Notice of Deficiency.

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: Individual 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: ___Janice Hu_______________________

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

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [X] Yes [ ] No

2. If Yes, is the information that will be collected included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [X] Yes [ ] No

3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [X] 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 $100 electronic gift card per interview participant. Incentives reduce the level of overrecruiting needed to meet the goal sample size and reduce the likelihood of having of no-shows and cancellations. Offering incentives for participating in this type of research is a standard industry practice.

BURDEN HOURS

The total burden hours for the cognitive interviews is = 45 burden hours

Respondent Category	Number of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden Hours
Screened but did not participate	226	5 minutes	19 h
Screened but did not participate due to overrecruit	4	15 minutes	1 h
Participated in interviews	20	75 minutes	25 h
Total Burden	250		45 h

FEDERAL COST:

The cost of the AUR interviews with the contractor is $40,340.

STATISTICAL METHOD:

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?

For the interviews, Fors Marsh will recruit IRS customers who recently received the final Statutory Notice of Deficiency after failing to respond to their initial CP2000 Notice. The IRS will provide Fors Marsh with lists of customers that meet these criteria. Fors Marsh will develop a recruitment screener to ensure eligibility and to recruit a demographically diverse sample with representation across AUR categories (e.g., wages, debt cancellation, NEC) and call status, as possible. A total of 24 individuals will be recruited to complete 20 interviews (4 over-recruits).

Administration of the Instrument

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

[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[X] Other, Explain – Microsoft Teams or Zoom for conducting the interviews

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.

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.

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.

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.

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