CS-23-551 2023 Needs and Engagement Survey of Tax Professionals (NEST) Supporting Statement

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 1545-1432)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: 2023 Needs and Engagement Survey of Tax Professionals (NEST) Survey

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 Needs and Engagement Survey for Tax Professionals (NEST) will be administered in the Fall of 2023 to tax professionals and will include questions about their experiences, preferences, and needs. Tax professionals have an important role in the tax ecosystem and exert a strong influence on taxpayer compliance and the overall taxpayer experience. Gaining a better understanding of this population will allow the IRS to improve the tax professional experience, thereby improving the taxpayer experience and increasing overall compliance.

The overall objective of this task is to survey SB/SE tax professionals regarding their needs, preferences, behaviors and engagement with the tax ecosystem. The key goals of this research are to solicit feedback on various aspects of the IRS experience, including satisfaction with IRS interactions and tax administration as a whole; to measure expectations for interactions with the IRS; to measure needs for compliant tax administration; and to measure awareness and use of IRS products and services.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

To represent the population of tax professionals, the contractor will use the PTIN holder database as a sampling frame. The PTIN database includes the names of the tax professionals as well as their business names, addresses, phone numbers, and websites. As of August 3, 2022, the PTIN database contained 661,144 records.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

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

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

[ ] 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: __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? [ ] Yes [X] No

Gifts or Payments:

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

BURDEN HOURS

An initial mailing will be sent to 22,250 addresses. Of those, 21,138 are expected to be valid contact addresses. Based on an initial sample of 22,250 mailings and a response rate of 18%, we expect 4,000 survey participants (and 17,138 non-participants).

• For all potential respondents, the time needed to read the invitation letter is 2 minutes, with the resulting burden being (21,138 x 2 minutes)/60 minutes = 705 burden hours.

• For survey participants, the total time needed to complete the survey is 20 minutes, with the resulting burden being (4,000 x 20 minutes)/60 minutes = 1,333 burden hours.

The total burden hours for the survey is (705 + 1,333) = 2,038 burden hours.

Category of Respondent	Number of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden (Hours)
NEST Survey Potential Respondents	21,138	2 min	705
NEST Survey Expected Participants	4,000	20 min	1,333
Totals			2,038 hours

Estimated Response Rate: 18%

Total Burden Estimate: 2,038 hours

FEDERAL COST:

The estimated cost of this survey (with the contractor) is $395,473.

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?

To represent the population of tax professionals, the contractor will use the PTIN holder database as a sampling frame. The PTIN database includes the names of the tax professionals as well as their business names, addresses, phone numbers, and websites. As of August 3, 2022, the PTIN database contained 661,144 records.

The contractor will stratify the PTIN database using the tax professional’s credentials: attorney, certified public accountant, enrolled agent, enrolled actuary, and enrolled retirement plan agent, then select the sample based on credential proportions. The contractor will also stratify the PTIN database by geographic location of the business address, to increase the sample size of tax professionals who predominantly serve taxpayers with limited English proficiency (LEP).

An overall sample size of 4,000 tax professionals provides error margins of +/-1.5%. Given this sample size, we expect to achieve a target of 400 for special populations (e.g., cash-only businesses) that comprise at least 10% of the tax professional population.

Administration of the Instrument

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

[X] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[X] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[X] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain – Microsoft TEAMS or ZOOM for sharing visuals.

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ ] Yes [X] 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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