[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 180 (Friday, September 16, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57804-57806]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-23715]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Internal Revenue Service
Proposed Collection; Comment Request for the IRS Individual
Taxpayer Burden Survey
AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing
effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general
public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment
on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C.
3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the IRS is soliciting comments concerning
the IRS Individual Taxpayer Burden Survey.
DATES: Written comments should be received on or before November 15,
2011 to be assured of consideration.
ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Yvette Lawrence, Internal
Revenue Service, Room 6129, 1111 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington,
DC 20224.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or
copies of the form and instructions should be directed to R. Joseph
Durbala, (202) 622-3634, at Internal Revenue Service, Room 6129, 1111
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20224, or through the Internet
at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: IRS Individual Taxpayer Burden Survey.
OMB Number: 1545-2212.
Form Number: CS-11-276.
Abstract: Each year, individual taxpayers in the United States
submit more than 140 million tax returns to the Internal Revenue
Service (IRS). The IRS uses the information in these returns, recorded
on roughly one hundred distinct forms and supporting schedules, to
administer a tax system whose rules span thousands of pages. Managing
such a complex and broad-based tax system is costly but represents only
a fraction of the total burden of the tax system. Equally, if not more
burdensome, is the time and out-of-pocket expenses that citizens spend
in order to comply with tax laws and regulations.
The IRS has conducted prior surveys of individual taxpayers in
1984, 1999, 2000, 2007. Changes in tax regulations, tax administration,
tax preparation methods, and taxpayer behavior continue to alter the
amount and distribution of taxpayer burden. To update our understanding
of this burden, the IRS contracted Westat to survey individual
taxpayers regarding the time and money taxpayers spend in response to
their Federal income tax obligations. We intend to conduct an updated
survey to better reflect the current tax rules and regulations, the
increased usage of tax preparation software, increased efficiency of
such software, changes in tax preparation regulations, the increased
use of electronic filing, the behavioral response of taxpayers to the
tax system, the changing use of services, both IRS and external, and
related information collection needs.
The purpose of the IRS entity surveys is to provide Congress and
the President with accurate estimates of the costs incurred by
corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies, tax-exempt
organizations, and government entities in complying with Federal rules
and regulations.
The critical items on the survey concern respondents' time and cost
burden estimates for complying with tax filing regulations. Additional
items on the survey will serve as contextualizing variables for
interpretation of the burden items. These items include information
regarding tax preparation methods and activities, tax-related
recordkeeping, gathering materials, learning about tax law, using IRS
and/or non-IRS taxpayer services, and tax form completion.
Current Actions: New surveys are being added to this collection.
Surveys Covered Under This Clearance Request.
Individual Taxpayers:
2010 Individual Burden Survey,
2011 Individual Burden Survey,
2011 Post-Filing Burden Survey,
2012 Individual Burden Survey, and
2012 Post-Filing Burden Survey.
Entity Taxpayers:
2010 Tax Exempt Entity Burden Survey and
2011 Business Taxpayers Burden Survey.
This form is being submitted for renewal purposes only.
Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Affected Public: Individuals, Businesses and other for-profit
organizations.
Each respondent will receive either a letter with instructions
to complete the survey (web-first) or a letter and survey (mail-
first), which they may spend about one minute reading. Each
potential respondent will participate only once. The potential
response rate, which varies depending on the type of survey, is
indicated in the burden estimate charts below.
Estimated time to complete the surveys is based on results from
prior cognitive interviews. We estimate that it will take
approximately the same time to complete the mail, web and phone
versions of the questionnaire. The content included in each
instrument will be the same.
The total annual burden estimates for the covered surveys is as
follows:
2010 Surveys 5,033 hours
2011 Surveys 7,726 hours
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2012 Surveys 4,066 hours
The estimated burden for each survey is itemized below:
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Number of Frequency of Average time Annual hour
Activity respondents response (minutes) burden
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2010 Individual Taxpayer Burden Survey
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Reading invitation letter & reminder 20,000 1 1 333
postcards..............................
Survey Completion....................... 10,000 1 18 3,000
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Total............................... ................ ................ ................ 3,333
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2010 Tax Exempt Entity Burden Survey
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Reading invitation letter & reminder 12,000 1 1 200
postcards..............................
Survey Completion....................... 6,000 1 15 1,500
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Total............................... ................ ................ ................ 1,700
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2011 Individual Taxpayer Burden Survey
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Reading invitation letter & reminder 20,000 1 1 333
postcards..............................
Survey Completion....................... 10,000 1 18 3,000
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Total............................... ................ ................ ................ 3,333
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2011 Post-Filing Burden Survey
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Testing*................................ 27 1 60 27
Reading invitation letter & reminder 8,000 1 1 133
postcards..............................
Survey Completion....................... 2,400 1 15 600
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Total............................... ................ ................ ................ 760
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2011 Business Taxpayer Burden Survey
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Reading invitation letter & reminder 24,000 1 1 400
postcards..............................
Survey Completion....................... 9,400 1 20 3,133
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Total............................... ................ ................ ................ 3,633
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2012 Individual Taxpayer Burden Survey
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Reading invitation letter & reminder 20,000 1 1 333
postcards..............................
Survey Completion....................... 10,000 1 18 3,000
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Total............................... ................ ................ ................ 3,333
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2012 Post-Filing Burden Survey
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Reading invitation letter & reminder 8,000 1 1 133
postcards..............................
Survey Completion....................... 2,400 1 15 600
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Total............................... ................ ................ ................ 733
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The annual burden cost to respondents is estimated to total $107,455 (5,033 hours x $21.35) for 2010, $164,950
(7,726 hours x $21.35) for 2011, and $86,809 (4,066 hours x $21.35) for 2012. This estimate is derived using
$21.35, the May 2010 average wage rate from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics Occupational Employment
Statistics Survey.
*The FY2011 Post-Filing Burden Survey will be the first attempt to collect information from the post-filing
population in a manner that allows integrated analysis with pre-filing and post-filing burden. To better
inform our survey effort and to ensure proper representation among post-filing groups (Correspondence Audits,
Field/Office Audits, Appeals and Collections) in the survey test process, we are requesting additional
respondents for survey testing for this survey only.
The following paragraph applies to all of the collections of
information covered by this notice:
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 26 U.S.C. 6103.
Request for Comments: Comments submitted in response to this notice
will be summarized and/or included in the request for OMB approval. All
comments will become a matter of public record.
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the collection of information
is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,
including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the
accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the collection of
information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of
the information to be collected; (d) ways to minimize the burden of the
[[Page 57806]]
collection of information on respondents, including through the use of
automated collection techniques or other forms of information
technology; and (e) estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of
operation, maintenance, and purchase of services to provide
information.
Approved: September 12, 2011.
Yvette Lawrence,
IRS Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2011-23715 Filed 9-15-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4830-01-P