CS-24-564 2024 American Customer Satisfaction Index Survey 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: 2024 American Customer Satisfaction Index Survey

PURPOSE:

Executive Order 12862 requires all government agencies to survey their customers and incorporate customer preferences in their process improvement efforts.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Survey provides the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and its Research, Applied Analytics, and Statistics (RAAS) Division a useful taxpayer context to inform efforts to improve the Service’s performance within the IRS’s overall tax filing process. The tax filing process is a critical element of the voluntary tax compliance system that touches most U.S. adults. ACSI also supports the Service’s strategic performance measures. A measure based on ACSI individual tax filers results serves as an IRS budget-level measure that’s part of the Congressional Justification, an IRS Integrated Modernization Business Plan measure, and an FY22-26 Strategic Plan measure. The data tracked include measures on satisfaction with the overall tax filing process and elements within this process that impact or are affected by customer satisfaction. The results of this survey allow the IRS to understand the impact of the tax filing process on public perception and identify which elements of the filing process impact customer satisfaction and to what degree.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

Survey respondents are individuals over the age of 18 who have the most interaction with IRS concerning the filing of their individual or corporate income tax returns.

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: Donna Baldwin, Senior Program Evaluation & Risk Analyst

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

Personally Identifiable Information:

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

2. If Yes, is the information that will be collected included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] 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

CFI’s survey vendor Dynata provides incentives to panelists for their participation, which can include items such as a points-based system providing miles to panelists or panelists can receive points towards earning a store gift card. The value can vary according to issues like how difficult a targeted population may be to reach and the length of panelists’ required participation.

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden Hours
Non-respondent	4,403	0.5 minutes	36.7
Expected respondent	2,125	10 minutes	354.2
Totals	6,528		390.9

Estimated Response Rate: 32.5%

Total Burden Estimate: 390.9 hours

FEDERAL COST: $303,550

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? [ ] Yes [X] 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?

IRS’ vendor CFI Group works with software company Dynata, who provides the sample for the potential respondents. Dynata uses online panels that they segment into different categories of respondents using various demographics (age, income, race, gender etc.). That, in addition to screening questions, provides a good base of potential respondents. Dynata sends an alert to all eligible respondents (over the age of 18) and uses buckets to target specific demographics. To be more inclusive and ensure that we are fairly assessing the satisfaction of the representative population, we set targets for specific demographics like Spanish speaking respondents, rural respondents, and low-income respondents, among others. Respondents are selected as they opt-in to the survey and pass the screener questions.

Administration of the Instrument

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

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

[ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ ] Yes [X ] No

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

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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