Submission template

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery” (OMB Control Number: 1545-2256)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: 2024 Taxpayer Experience Research Interviews for Qualitative Feedback

PURPOSE:

To better serve its Taxpayers, the Transformation and Strategy Office (TSO) and the Taxpayer Experience Office (TXO) have teamed together to conduct additional research on the IRS Call Centers to further identify potential opportunities for improvement and modernization. In September 2023, the TSO conducted 40 focus groups consisting of CSRs, Leads and Managers across 10 Call Center campuses to research the employee experience. This research informed a series of recommendations the IRS could take to modernize and improve the experience of employees of IRS Call Centers. To create a holistic view of IRS Call Centers the TSO and TXO would like to continue this research by conducting interviews with Taxpayers who have called an IRS Call Center in the last 120 days. These conversations will help document their experience and identify potential areas for modernization and improvement. The insights gleaned from these interviews will similarly inform any recommendations the IRS can potentially make to improve and modernize the experience of Taxpayers who call an IRS Call Center. This research will document the journey a Taxpayer goes through when calling a Call Center to understand the Taxpayer’s pain points and needs from the first moment they interact with the IRS Call Center, until their issues are resolved. These interviews will be held virtually via the method that works best for the Taxpayer (Zoom, Teams, and Phone calls will be offered); Taxpayers will also be given the option to consent to their conversation being recorded and transcribed. If they consent to the recording, their feedback will not be used for anything other than our research, and the recording will be deleted once the research summary is completed. The TSO and TXO will use the moderator guide that is listed below to guide the discussion.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

To better understand the most complex/common issues of Taxpayers calling IRS Call Centers, the TSO and TXO have established criteria we will utilize to guide our research. The first set of criteria will inform the selection of potential interviewees:

• Taxpayers who have called an IRS Call Center in the last 120 days.

The next set of criteria will help us identify the specific call types we wish to research. We will utilize Application Management Services (AMS) data to identify call types with the:

• Highest call volume

• Longest call duration

• Lowest first contact resolution/most repeat callers

The team will then connect the AMS data back to the applications and pull a sample of 2,400 unique Taxpayer Identification Numbers who meet the above criteria. This sample should provide insight into which customer journeys are the hardest to navigate for Taxpayers and assisters alike.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software [] Small Discussion Group

[X] Focus Group [] Other: ______________________

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: Maya Bretzius

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? [] Yes [X] No

Gifts or Payments:

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

BURDEN HOURS: The estimated total burden is: 260 hours.

We will send invitations to approximately 2400 taxpayers who have called the IRS in the last 120 days with the goal of interviewing 120 participants. We will conduct one-on-one interview with the 120 participants 30 minutes each.

The time needed to invite the potential interviewees and for them to fill out questionnaires (asking for contact information and ideal times) should take approximately 5 minutes with the resulting burden being 2400 x 5 minutes = 200 burden hours.

The interviews will each be 30 minutes. 120 taxpayers will be interviewed, for a total time burden of 60 hours (120 x 30 minutes = 60 hours) of total time burden for taxpayers.

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Soliciting Taxpayers who have contacted an IRS Call Center	2400	5	200
Expected Taxpayer Participants	120	30	60
Totals			260

FEDERAL COST: The estimated cost to the Federal government is: $7,381.55

Contractor hours support may vary based on government need. The total cost for contractor support is estimated not to exceed $7,100. Contractors operate under a fixed firm price contracting vehicle, which does not provide an hourly rate.

Description	Hours	Avg. Hourly Rate	Total
Contractor Support	50-70	NA	$7,100.00
GS-15	5	$56.31	$281.55
Totals	50-70		$7,381.55

STATISTICAL METHOD:

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please

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 (and 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?

During our sampling we will identify callers who have contacted an IRS Call Center in the past 120 days and fall into these categories of call types:

• Highest volume

• Longest duration

• Lowest first call resolutions (cause the most repeat callers)

The full list of people that fall into these criteria will be pulled and a random sample of 2,400 will be selected via Excel’s random sampling tools.

We will then take our sample and invite each to participate in an interview via direct mail (or email/text if possible) with a link and QR code to a short questionnaire to gather phone number, email, and preferred contact method. Once they complete the survey indicating they are eligible for an interview, they will be sent scheduling options for the interview. Respondents will not be tracked, or contacted again if they don’t respond. We selected our sample size to eliminate the need for secondary notices assuming a 5% acceptance rate. The questionnaire attached to notices will collect the following PII for the sole purpose of scheduling interviews: First name, email address or phone number (taxpayers’ choice). This information will not be shared outside of the TSO, TXO, or Deloitte team.

Data collected from the interviews (call transcripts and notes) will be saved on both Deloitte and TXO Team’s pages and will be deleted once research is concluded (estimated around July/ August 2024). TSO, TXO, and select Deloitte contractors will be the only people with access to this data. The data gleaned from the research will be aggregated into a report that will be utilized by the TXO and TSO for contact center improvements.

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, ZOOM, or Phone Call based on Taxpayer preference.

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.

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

7