Supporting Statement
OMB Information Collection (ICR) Approval Request to Conduct
Approval Request to Conduct Customer Satisfaction Research
(OMB #1545-1432)
FY 2023 Customer Experience Expectations and Needs Survey (CEEN)
A. JUSTIFICATION
Circumstances Making the Collection of Information Necessary
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) enlists a balanced measurement system consisting of business results, customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction. This initiative is part of the Service-wide effort to maintain a system of balanced organizational performance measures mandated by the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act (RRA) of 1998. This is also a result of Executive Order 12862 that requires all government agencies to survey their customers.
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 of 1998. Executive Order 12862 also requires all government agencies to survey their taxpayers and incorporate taxpayer experience in their process improvement efforts. Additional guidance and industry best practices indicate the importance of understanding customer experience, expectations and needs when looking to make operational improvements. There is also some research that indicates an improved customer experience can lead to improved compliance.
Purpose and Use of the Information Collection
The overall objective of this task is to survey SB/SE taxpayers regarding their pre-filing, filing, and post-filing needs, and preferences. The key goals of this research are to solicit SB/SE taxpayer feedback on the various aspects of the taxpayer experience including satisfaction with IRS interactions and tax administration as a whole; measure SB/SE taxpayer expectations for interactions with the IRS; measure SB/SE taxpayer needs for compliant tax administration, and measure SB/SE taxpayer awareness and use of IRS products and services.
Consideration Given to Information Technology
Survey will be administered primarily on web but is supplemented with the computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI).
Duplication of Information
Similar data is not gathered or maintained by SB/SE or available from other sources known to SB/SE.
Reducing the Burden on Small Entities
Small businesses or other small entities may be involved in these efforts, but SB/SE will minimize the burden on them by sampling and communicating with their representatives when appropriate. Additionally, this survey is voluntary; therefore, entities may choose not to participate if they deem it too burdensome.
6. Consequences of Not Conducting Collection
SB/SE initiatives fall under the IRS goal to “IMPROVE SERVICE TO MAKE VOLUNTARY
COMPLIANCE EASIER and ENFORCE THE LAW TO ENSURE EVERYONE MEETS THEIR
OBLIGATION TO PAY TAXES.” If this research is not conducted, SB/SE will not have accurate external measures that need to be used to assess their success in meeting IRS goals. This will also cause SB/SE to be less effective as it will not have the reliable data to know which products and services, identified by customers, need improvement or need to be developed to service these populations.
Special Circumstances
There are no special circumstances relating to this request. The information collected will be voluntary and will not be used for statistical purposes.
Consultations with Persons Outside the Agency
ICF is the outside contractor working with the agency in creating the survey questionnaire. ICF works with the NORC’s AmeriSpeak Panel to recruit participants and administer the survey.
The IRS is not providing the incentive payments and is not directing the contractor to do so. The contractor, as part of completing the contracted survey, has decided to provide an incentive using the NORC “AmeriPoints” system to boost response rates. Offering incentives for participating in this type of research is a standard industry practice.
Confidentiality:
Respondents’ privacy will be protected to the extent allowed by law. ICF and NORC will manage recruitment, and PII will not be shared with IRS.
Sensitive Nature
No questions will be asked that are of a personal or sensitive nature.
Burden of Information Collection –
Category of Respondent |
No. of Respondents |
Participation Time |
Burden Hours |
Questionnaire Screening – Non-qualified participants |
3421 |
1 minute |
57 |
Completed Surveys – Qualified participants |
4219 |
24 minutes |
1687.6 |
Totals |
|
|
1744.6 |
Costs to Respondents
There is no dollar cost to respondents. The total estimated annual cost burden to respondents is $48,866.25. The surveys take place across the United States with all cross-sections of society. This estimate was created using the mean hourly wage for all occupations ($28.01) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) May 2021 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates - United States.”
There is no cost to respondents resulting from the collection of information.
Cost to Federal Government
Estimated cost is $363,244 for both the English and Spanish surveys.
Reason for Change
Survey changes based on customer feedback.
Tabulation of Results, Schedule, Analysis Plans
The results of this survey will be used to identify ways to improve the SB/SE customer experience, increase voluntary compliance and raise awareness to IRS products and services.
Display of OMB Approval Date
N/A
Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions
These activities comply with the requirements in 5 CFR 1320.9.
Dates Collection of Information will Begin and End –
4/1/2023-12/31/2023
B. STATISTICAL METHODS
Universe and Respondent Selection
The Contractor will include the entire NORC AmeriSpeak Panel to select the probability sample of small business owners and the self-employed, supplemented by sample from non-probability sample sources to obtain the requested Spanish-speaking completes.
Procedures for Collecting Information
The Contractor shall propose the data collection mode or modes for survey administration to ensure accurate representation of the U.S SB/SE taxpayer population. In addition to providing the required performance measurements, the method, and data collection instruments shall serve a diagnostic purpose, directing the IRS to the most critical factors affecting taxpayer satisfaction and the taxpayer experience and to courses of action that will address them.
Methods to Maximize Response
The Contractor will maximize response and cooperation rates among those selected for the sample using industry standard recognized methods. The contractor may assume that the survey will take taxpayers approximately between 20 and 25 minutes to complete. The contractor shall develop and execute a sampling plan that is acceptable to the IRS. The survey target of around 4,000 completes, potentially including a Spanish Limited English Proficient (LEP) sample of 400-500. Contractor will ensure persons without internet access are represented in the sample. The sampling plan should represent the entire U.S. SB/SE customer base. The contractor’s past experience with executing similar surveys and use of AmeriPoints will minimize the potential impact of drop-offs or abandonment in the survey responses. Due to the branching nature of the survey, respondents will not answer all questions.
Testing of Procedures
The data quality summary should cover, but is not limited to, steps and procedures to test the validity of survey data capture and processing, and the accuracy of open-ended comment recodes. Data quality assurance procedures must be appropriate to survey mode. IRS representatives will participate in data quality testing as appropriate to survey mode. Results of data quality testing will be submitted to the SBR COR and SBR survey researcher(s) before questionnaire fielding.
Contacts for Statistical Aspects and Data Collection
Kathleen Holland
Chief, Team 4, SB Research
470-639-3110-Office
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Russaw Chiquita N |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2025-12-30 |