CS-24-562 Customer Experience, Expectations, and Needs (CEEN) Survey - 2024 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:

Customer Experience, Expectations, and Needs (CEEN) Survey - 2024

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 Customer Experience, Expectations and Needs (CEEN) survey will be administered in the Summer of 2024 to Small Business/Self Employed (SB/SE) taxpayers and will include questions about their experiences, preferences, and needs. Prior research and industry best practices indicate the importance of understanding customer experience, expectations and needs when looking to make operational improvements. Research also indicates an improved customer experience can lead to improved compliance.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

Respondents will be selected from the National Research Opinion Center’s (NORC) AmeriSpeak Panel. The AmeriSpeak panel is a probability-based panel that represents the U.S. household population, from which eligible small business and self-employed taxpayers will be surveyed.

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? [ ] 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? [X] Yes [ ] No

Gifts or Payments:

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

The IRS is not providing incentive payments and is not directing the contractor to do so.

The contractor, as part of completing the contracted survey, will 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.

BURDEN HOURS

The total burden hours for the survey of SB/SE taxpayers is 1,745 burden hours

Respondent Category	Number of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden Hours
Questionnaire Screening – Non-qualified participants	3,421	1 minute	57
Completed Surveys – Qualified participants	4,219	24 minutes	1,688
Total Burden			1,745

FEDERAL COST:

The estimated cost of this survey is $372,263 for both the English and Spanish surveys.

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?

The contractor will include the entire NORC AmeriSpeak Panel for the selection of the probability sample of small business owners and self-employed taxpayers. This selection will be supplemented by sampling from non-probability sample sources to obtain the requested Spanish-speaking completes.

The contractor shall develop and execute a sampling plan that is acceptable to the IRS. The sampling plan will represent the entire US SB/SE customer base. The contractor will ensure persons without internet access are represented in the sample. The survey target is approximately 4,000 completes, including a Spanish Limited English Proficient (LEP) sample of 400-500.

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

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other

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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