2023-21526. Proposed Collection; Comment Request for the IRS Taxpayer Burden Surveys

AGENCY:

Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury.

ACTION:

Notice and request for comments.

SUMMARY:

The Internal Revenue Service, 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 continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The IRS is soliciting comments concerning the 2020, 2021, and 2022 Wage and Investment Strategies and Solutions Behavioral Laboratory Customer Surveys and Support.

DATES:

Written comments should be received on or before November 28, 2023 to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES:

Direct all written comments to Andres Garcia, Internal Revenue Service, Room 6526, 1111 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20224, or by email to [e-mail]. Include 1545–2274 or Wage and Investment Strategies and Solutions Behavioral Laboratory Customer Surveys and Support.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Requests for additional information or copies of this collection should be directed to LaNita Van Dyke, at (202) 317–6009, at Internal Revenue Service, Room 6526, 1111 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20224, or through the internet at [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Wage and Investment Strategies and Solutions Behavioral Laboratory Customer Surveys and Support.

OMB Number: 1545–2274.

Regulatory Number: N/A.

Abstract: As outlined in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Strategic Plan, the Agency is working towards allocating IRS resources strategically to address the evolving scope and increasing complexity of tax administration. In order to do this, IRS must realize their operational efficiencies and effectively manage costs by improving enterprise-wide resource allocation and streamlining processes using feedback from various behavioral research techniques. To assist the Agency is accomplishing the goal outlined in the Strategic Plan, the Wage and Investment Division continuously maintains a “customer-first” focus through routinely soliciting information concerning the needs and characteristics of its customers and implementing programs based on the information received. W&I Strategies and Solutions (WISS), is developing the implementation of a Behavioral Laboratory to identify, plan and deliver business improvement processes that support fulfillment of the IRS strategic goals. The collection of information through the Behavioral Laboratory is necessary to enable the Agency to garner customer and stakeholder feedback in an efficient, timely manner, in accordance with the commitment to improving taxpayer service delivery. Improving agency programs requires ongoing assessment of service delivery. WISS, through the Behavioral Laboratory, will collect, analyze, and interpret information gathered through this generic clearance to identify strengths and weaknesses of current services and make improvements in service delivery based on feedback provided by taxpayers and employees of the Internal Revenue Service.

Current Actions: The IRS will be revising and replacing various surveys. The survey scope is expanded to include burden for surveys associated with all taxpayer segments. This effort represents a continuation of the IRS's strategy to gather taxpayer burden data for all types of tax returns and information reporting documents in order to support Wage and Investment's OMB Improvement Strategy to transition burden estimates for all taxpayers to the preferred RAAS burden estimation methodology. These surveys will allow RAAS to update and validate the IRS Taxpayer Burden Model which will be used to provide estimates for consolidated taxpayer segments, like what is currently done for OMB numbers 1545–0074, 1545–0123, and 1545–0047.

Data Collections Covered Under This Clearance Request

Customer Call Back Programming (CCB)

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Affected Public: Individual, Business, or other for-profit organizations.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 150,000.

Estimated Time per Respondent: 1 hours.

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 150,000 hours.

The following paragraph applies to all 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 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 26, 2023.

Molly J. Stasko,

Senior Tax Analyst.